Para Snowboard World Cup makes debut in Cortina
Feb 09, 2023·Para Snowboard
The Paralympic Snowboard Cross World Cup enjoyed two days of great intensity from 8-9 February in Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA).
The Queen of the Dolomites was a first-time host to Paralympic snowboarding and it was a grand debut. Fifteen nations took part on the same slope that had just held FIS Snowboard World Cup competitions.
On the first day, Italytook advantage of 'home snow' getting on the podium as Jacopo Luchini: the Tuscan snowboarder took third place, finishing behind Maxime Montanini (FRA) and the James Barnes-Miller (GBR).
The winners in the different categories of the World Cup were Maxime Montanoni (France, Upper Limb 1 category), Nunta Kosuda (Japan, Lower Limb 1), Ben Tudhope (Australia, Lower Limb 2), Monika Aleksandra Kotzian (Poland, Upper Limb 1) and Lisa Bunschoten (Netherlands, Lower Limb 2).
Also staged were European Cup races with the top stars being: Marcin Kostera (Poland, Upper Limb1), Emanuel Perathoner (Italy, Lower Limb 1 and 2), Isabelle Hicks (United States, Upper Limb 1) and Nina Sparks (Great Britain, Lower Limb 1).
During the awards ceremony, a moment of silence was observed in memory of Elena Fanchini, the Italian skier who won a World Cup downhill race in Cortina in January 2015.
"I want to thank everyone, starting from the Cortina Snowboard Club which has developed a slope that has received unanimous applause" said Stefano Longo, president of the Cortina Foundation. "I also want to thank the population of Cortina who welcomed the World Cup with great availability. For us it was a debut in the Paralympic world: a great experience which we will be able to treasure, comparing ourselves with the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation to arrive, in three years, to propose top events for the Paralympic appointment".
"I think Cortina has once again been able to present itself at its best in organizing a sporting event," says Gianluca Lorenzi, mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo. «For the first time we were hosting a Paralympic winter sports event and the Cortina Foundation did very well. It is essential to continue on this path to ensure that sport becomes not only an opportunity to promote the territory but also an opportunity for inclusion".
