Hanlon a proud, bronzed Aussie

NSW Institute of Sport scholarship athlete Josh Hanlon broke through for his first podium in what has been a great few days for Australian Parasnowsports.

Hanlon hit a landmark moment in his career in Germany on Monday by scoring his first Para alpine skiing World Cup medal.

The 27-year-old sat in fourth place after the first run before showing great form in the second to claim the bronze medal.

 “I have been pushing for this for a long time, and it feels surreal to finally get onto the podium,” said Hanlon. “⁠To be up there with the quickest guys is really cool, and now I have to keep challenging myself to stay with them consistently.”

With two more races to come, Hanlon is relishing the conditions and hopeful of having more success as the week goes on.

“The organisers [in Feldberg] have put in an amazing effort making a tonne of snow, and working hard to produce an amazing racing surface,” he said.

“They are putting in a huge effort to make us feel at home, and the hill is really cool.

“It is fantastic to get to race on a proper World Cup race hill. 

NSWIS’s Ben Tudhope celebrated his first World Cup victory of the season in the Finnish resort of Pyha.

With the first of two snowboard cross races cancelled due to weather, everything was on the line for Tudhope in Sunday’s race which he took out ahead of Alex Massie (Canada) and Emmanuel Perathoner (Italy).

In more great news, Aaron McCarthy scored his first podium with a third place in just his third European Cup race. A strong run from Sean Pollard earned him a fourth place finish while Kiwi training partner Ben Johnston came fifth.

Live streaming of the next two races of the FIS Para Alpine World Cup in Feldberg, Germany is available via Snow Live.

The next Para Snowboard World Cup takes place in Lenk, Switzerland from Thursday. Live timing will be available at https://fis-parasnowboard.com/events

Story and photos courtesy of Snow Australia