Follow Evan at the 2nd IPC NorAm Race Feb 3rd at Copper Mountain, Colorado
Evan Strong takes Gold at the IPCAS SNOWBOARD NORAM at Sierra at tahoe
American Evan Strong was victorious in the IPCAS snowboard cross event on his home snow in South Tahoe (Nevada), USA.
Strong dominates snowboard cross event by www.paralympic.org/news
USA's Evan Strong and Marc Deraves won their men's snowboard cross events and the Netherlands' Bibian Mentel was victorious on the women's side at the IPC Alpine Skiing event in South Tahoe (Nevada), USA on Sunday (27 January).
Strong, a 2011 X-Games gold medallist, dominated the men's lower-limb impairment category with a result of 1:39.50, just ahead of Canada's Ian Lockey who finished in 1:41.02 and his American teammate Keith Gabel, who finished in 1:41.74.
Evan says: "After 9 months of anticipation and preparation for the first US national qualifying World Cup I brought home the GOLD from Sierra at Tahoe! It feels good to start off the season on the "right" foot ;). Now off to the airport to head to CO. For the next World Cup this weekend, stay tuned!"
Full results from the men's snowboard cross competition can be found here.
By Alex Houston:
So honored to have recorded Paralympic history in the making today at Sierra at Tahoe
with the largest international adaptive snowboarding competition ever!
Congrats to all the para-snowboarders, especially the lower limb podiums:
Women: Bibian Mentel (gold), Amy Purdy (silver) and newcomer Heidi Jo Duce (bronze)
Men: Evan Strong (gold), Ian Lockey (silver) and Grizzly (Keith) Gabel (bronze)
By Kathryn Reed of Lake Tahoe News.
Fifty-four riders from eight countries will be competing this weekend at Sierra-at-Tahoe in the first qualifier for the 2014 U.S. Paralympic snowboarding team.
With the folks associated with next year's Olympics in Sochi, Russia, deciding less than a year ago to include snowboarding in the Paralympics, riders are scrambling a bit.
"I have personally met several of the athletes. They are inspiring as they have overcome their disabilities, and not only get on the mountain — but can beat about half of us through a race course," Sierra General Manager John Rice told Lake Tahoe News.
More than 20 officials from the International Paralympic Committee and U.S. Paralympic Committee will be in town this weekend. Read More
First Para-Snowboard Test Event Set for Sochi in March
Netherland's Bibian Mentel is one of the favorite for the first para-snowboard test event in Sochi, Russia
The snowboard Paralympic test event is set to take place on 6 March in Sochi, one year and one day ahead of the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
It will be the fourth event in IPC Alpine Skiing season, after events in Landgraaf, the Netherlands, from 22-23 November in Twin Bridges, Colorado, USA, from 26-27 January and Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA, from 2-3 February.
The sport was accepted onto the Paralympic programme in May 2012 after more than 10 years of campaigning.
"It is important for the growth of the Winter Games that there are more sports and more medal events to contest," IPC Chief Executive Officer Xavier Gonzalez said.
"I am particularly looking forward to see how athletes perform in this exciting new discipline and believe it will prove extremely popular with spectators and TV viewers alike."
Favourites for the event include the Netherlands' Bibian Mentel and USA's Amy Purdy on the women's side, as well as USA's Evan Strong and New Zealand's Carl Murphy on the men's side.
"Having snowboarding in the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games is a dream come true for me," said US snowboarder Amy Purdy, who played a key role in getting the sport to the Games through the organisation Adaptive Action Sports, which she co-founded.
"I remember I had just lost both of my legs when I found out that snowboarding was not yet a Paralympic sport and I thought, if it ever was a Paralympic sport that I would do whatever it takes to be there competing for my country."