May 2, 2012 – Today, supporters of the sport
of Adaptive Snowboarding were rewarded when the International Paralympic
Committee announced that two Para-Snowboard medal events will be included in
the Alpine Skiing program at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. The two
events will take place March 7-16, 2014.
Qualification criteria will be published on May 28, 2012.
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| Evan Strong/New Zealand WC |
Acceptance
of snowboarding as a Paralympic sport is the culmination of international,
national and local efforts over the last six years. AAS, which took an active role in these
efforts, helped focus the world’s attention on the sport with ongoing support
from the ESPN X Games which has, for the past two years, included the Adaptive Snowboarder X
race.
 |
Nick Baumgartner 2011 X Games Gold Medalist. Matt Morning/ESPN Images
Earlie
they too can have an opportunity at
Olympic Gold! So pumped for you all!" |
Public attention to adaptive snowboarding also resulted from a series of AAS adaptive
events including the ASX training camps and races made possible through AAS
partnerships with the United States of America Snowboard Association, Toyota, Loctite, Burton, Udos
Oil, Freedom Innovations, Smith Optics, Element, Disabled Sports USA and
others. The ASX race series, including the race at X Games, boasted the
first-ever cash purses for participating adaptive athletes.
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| Travis K/Keith D/Chris B - All Veteran Race at USASA Nationals 09' |
In February 2012, France hosted a two-day
World Championship featuring 40 Para-Snowboarders from 10 countries. Gold in the men’s standing class was taken by
Evan Strong, racing for the US, who finished ahead of New Zealand’s Carl Murphy
and fellow American Mike Shea. The women’s gold was won by Bibian Mentel of the
Netherlands, while silver and bronze went to USA’s Amy Purdy and Italy’s Sara
Dorigatti, respectively. Both Evan and
Amy trained at AAS’ Crested Butte Adaptive Snowboard camp in 2011-12.
International points they have accumulated over the past several years
puts them out in front in terms of selection for the 2014 US Paralympic Team.
February’s event also included the sitting
category for the first time, which is open to riders with physical impairment
such as paraplegia and bilateral lower extremity amputation.
In 2012-13, Adaptive Action Sports, Inc.,
will continue its winter adaptive boardercross training which includes beginner
to expert programs with access to a full-time boardercross course, seasonal
lodging and a full time staff of certified instructors and coaches. For information concerning how to participate
in this training, contact AAS Executive Director Daniel Gale at
Daniel@adacs.org.
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| ASX Training Camp at Copper Mountain Colorado 09' |
Additional
information on the 2014 Paralympics is available through
www.sochi2014.com.
For information on the International Paralympics Committee, visit
www.paralympic.org. Or, telephone Craig Spence, IPC Director of
Media and Communication, at 49-228-2097-230.
You may also email Craig at craig.spence@paralympic.org.
To contact the WSF Para-Snowboard division,
visit
www.worldsnowboardfederation.org. You may
also contact Marco Sampaoli, WSF Press and Media Operations at
marco@worldsnowboardfederation.org. Danny Buntain, WSF Para-Snowboard Chairperson,
may be reached at 39-340-3285569 or 44-787-9336623. She may be
emailed at
danny.buntain@gmail.com.
