Ben Tudhope out to honour his late 助言者s
When Ben Tudhope chases Winter Paralympic glory in Zhangjiakou, he'll have two メダルs in his sights, two 指名するs in his heart and a message in his jacket reminding him why he's doing it.
There, embroidered in the lining, is a simple phrase: 'I ride for Matty'.
The stitching, which features in every Australian 競技者's uniform, 言及するs to Matthew Robinson, Tudhope's former para snowboarding チーム仲間 who died in February 2014, 老年の just 28.
Just weeks before the Sochi Winter Paralympics, where Tudhope made his Games debut, Robinson 苦しむd serious 傷害s in a 衝突，墜落 in La Molina, Spain.
After spinal and neck 外科s in Barcelona, Robinson was taken home 経由で 空気／公表する 救急車 but during a refuelling stop in Kuwait, he 苦しむd a cardiac 逮捕（する） and could not be 生き返らせるd.
"It's 絶対 an honour to have the Matty stitching on a piece of our uniform," Tudhope told AAP.
"Paralympics Australia 現実に surprised us this time around and four years ago in Korea too.
"He was my チーム仲間 going into Sochi and it's just incredible to be able to honour his 遺産／遺物 and know that he's still with us, he's still with me, with the team and his 遺産／遺物 will live on in Paralympics Australia history and in our sport 同様に, not just in Australia but in the debut of our sport.
"He was 現実に the first guy to 勝利，勝つ an IPC World Cup for Australia so he 覆うd the way for everyone here. So it's 広大な／多数の／重要な that we can honour him here and know that he's here with us every step of the way."
Tudhope had a 特に special 関係 with Robinson, who helped the youngster を取り引きする the prospect of spending months away from home in （軍の）野営地，陣営s in Europe.
"He was truly special to me. He was my first team captain 支援する when I joined the team, so I know he'd be so proud of my 業績／成就s," he said.
"支援する when I was 10 years old through 13, 14, he definitely took me under his wing.
"特に when I started going ove rseas, for months away from home, he just made everything fun.
"The best way to 述べる him was a larrikin. He loved one-liners, he loved pulling jokes and he just made everyone around him so happy
"He truly 具体的に表現するd what it meant to be an Australian Paralympian and a snowboarder 同様に and he 解除するd me to 改善する my snowboarding 同様に. He made me 落ちる in love with our 競争, our sport."
Then just 14, Tudhope started his debut games wearing a 黒人／ボイコット armband for his friend at the 開会式, and ended his time in Sochi as the delightful, 感染性の personality who 逮捕（する）d hearts and minds around the world.
But as the years passed and Tudhope grew into a para snowboarding 星／主役にする, 悲劇 struck again when his coach Mikko Wendelin died suddenly in November 2019.
Finnish coach Wendelin had 長，率いるd up 'Team Unicorn', the group of para snowboarders from さまざまな countries: Australian Tudhope, Finland's Matti Suur-Hamari and Canadian Alex Massie, who train together, and compete against each other.
Tudhope, then 20, won two gold メダルs in his next World Cup, held in Finland, and 献身的な the victories to Wendelin.
Now the world No.1 para snowboarder at just 22, Tudhope embraces how Robinson and Wendelin, in both life and death, have 形態／調整d him.
"How I look at these guys passing, people so の近くに to me, at やめる the young age is I always see their fun and good memories, I don't soak in their 悲しみs, the bad times, the sad times," he said.
"I look at how would they want me to live. I live and ride in honour of them and their 遺産／遺物 and always look at happy memories of what good people they were and what they brought to this world.
"Because they were two of the most special people for me and they brightened up not just my world but everyone's world around them."
Tudhope, 注目する，もくろむing 打開 メダルs at his third games, 開始するs his snowboard cross qualifiers on Sunday then is 注目する，もくろむing the big final on Monday before taking on banked slalo m later in the week.
The "epic" Zhangjiakou Paralympics course is the same as the Winter Olympics, and the biggest yet in para-snowboarding.
It's a step 今後 Tudhope is sure both his one-time 助言者s would relish.
"They'd be 最高の proud of watching me ride this course but also they'd be 絶対 amazed with where this sport has come because they both had big goals and they did a lot for para snowboarding," he said.
"So to showcase how far we have come from those 早期に days, I think they would be blown away by the courses, by the builds, by the level of riding from every competitor.
"That's what's driven me to get as good as I am and continue to 改善する 同様に, because there's no such thing as a perfect snowboarder. You can always 改善する your 技術s and get better.
"I know my pathway is still going on. I'm definitely not at my 頂点（に達する） yet."
