Aussie para snowboarder Ben Tudhope vows to ‘send it’ after cruising through qualifying runs

Para snowboarding gold medal prospect Ben Tudhope has vowed to hit a new level as he attempts to get Australia off the mark at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics.

Tudhope cruised through qualifying on Sunday in Zhangjiakou to reach Monday’s competition, which involves quarter-finals, semi-final then, if he qualifies, a big final.

The world’s No.1 ranked para snowboarder is chasing his breakthrough Paralympic medal at his third Games.

Watch the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games on Channel 7 and stream it for free on 7plus >>

“I’m ready to send it tomorrow because that’s when it really counts,” Tudhope said after qualifying.

“It will be a new level from me tomorrow, new level of riding but I know the whole field will (lift).”

If he’s to reach the pinnacle, 22-year-old Tudhope will have to best his training buddies on ‘Team Unicorn’.

That’s Finland’s Matti Suur-Hamari, the defending gold medallist from PyeongChang, and Canadian Alex Massie.

In qualifying, Tudhope finished fourth behind Suur-Hamari, American Garrett Geros and Massie.

“It’s funny competing against one another because we are teammates and we are close but at the end of the day we do an individual sport,” Tudhope said.

“The best way to describe it is we have a great system going.

‘All of my team knows what to do on race day and we know how to make it to the finals together and that’s the goal, to make it to the finals as a Unicorn team and anything goes from there.”

If you’d like to view this content, please adjust your .

To find out more about how we use cookies, please see our Cookie Guide.

Meanwhile, Australia’s para alpine skiers will take on the Super Combined event in Yanqing.

The event, which consists of Super G in the morning and slalom in the