IPC Snowboard Media Guide 2015-2016 IPC Snowboard Media Guide 1 Table of contents 4 President’s welcome 6 Media and broadcast contacts 7 About the sport 8 Competition description 10 Looking ahead to 2015-16 11 Competition calendar – 2015-2016 12 Accreditation for competitions 13 Classification explained 14 Ones to Watch – Women 28 Ones to Watch – Men 50 Participation 51 Medals tables 52 2015 World Championships medallists 54 Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games medallists 55 World Cup winners 56 National Paralympic Committee contacts 58 Officials 58 Anti-doping 2 IPC Snowboard Media Guide IPC Snowboard Media Guide 3 President’s welcome North America (NorAm) Cups at Aspen Snowmass, USA, and Big White, Canada, have been introduced to provide more lower-level competition opportunities in these fast-growing countries. Underscoring all of this is that the expan- sion of the continental Cup programme will establish it as a feeder series, in turn building the profile, prestige and compet- itiveness of the World Cup. The final key step for 2015-16 is the launch of a dedicated website, Facebook and Twitter profiles for IPC Snowboard, as Dear media representative, there is now enough demand for an inde- pendent digital presence. I am delighted to present the first IPC These developments join last season’s Snowboard Media Guide for the 2015-16 split in lower-limb impairment classifi- season. cations, the addition of banked slalom Since successfully debuting at the Sochi and the change of format for snow- 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, snow- board-cross, which is now a more exciting board has continued to expand its reach head-to-head format. and popularity. The sport is moving in the right direction In 2015 the sport held the first World and I am convinced that the popularity of Championships under the governance of IPC Snowboard will grow and grow. IPC Snowboard, and has also made a se- However it cannot continue to progress ries of changes to classification and com- without your help. Media coverage will petition formats in order to improve the help to attract new athletes, encourage sport and attract new audiences. countries to build their programmes and This season the World Cup circuit contin- ensure the future of the sport. ues with eight scheduled in two new loca- I hope that this Media Guide provides you tions, alongside three Europa Cups. with everything you need to cover the You can find out more about these devel- 2015-16 season, but we would be grate- opments later on in the Media Guide, but ful for any comments you might have I want to highlight here what is new for about what information you would like to 2015-16. see in future editions. Giant slalom is a format which is more ac- cessible, particularly in countries where Thank you for your support, the sport is still growing. So this season, Regards the format will run at the Asia Cup in Yong- pyong, South Korea, for the first time. The Asia Cup itself is an important ad- dition, as the focus is on developing IPC Snowboard in the region ahead of Pyeo- Sir Philip Craven MBE ngChang 2018 and Beijing 2022. IPC President 4 IPC Snowboard Media Guide IPC Snowboard Media Guide 5 Media and broadcast contacts About the sport Lucy Dominy IPC Snowboard is practiced worldwide which is co-ordinated by the IPC Alpine IPC Sports Public Relations and Campaigns Manager and features three disciplines: snow- Skiing and Snowboard Technical Com- Telephone: +49 228 2097-159 board-cross, banked slalom and giant mittee. Email: [email protected] slalom. Athletes combine speed and agil- A provisional total of 10 medal events are ity while racing down courses as fast as on the Paralympic programme, with the possible. exact events to be confirmed by the IPC Eva Werthmann Competition includes male and female Governing Board ahead of the Pyeong- IPC Media Operations Manager athletes with a physical impairment such Chang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. Telephone: +49 228 2097-143 as spinal injury, cerebral palsy and ampu- The sport made its debut Sochi 2014 with Email: [email protected] tation. two medal events in women’s and men’s Athletes compete in three categories snowboard-cross. based on their functional ability – SB- Jose Manuel-Dominguez LL1 and SB-LL1 for lower-limb impaired IPC Broadcast Manager riders and SB-UL for upper-limb impaired Follow us: Telephone: +49 228 2097-104 athletes. Email: [email protected] Snowboarders use equipment that is @IPCSnowboard adapted to their needs including snow- board and orthopaedic aids. IPCSnowboard IPC Alpine Skiing and Snowboard acts as the International Federation for the sport www.ipc-snowboard.org 6 IPC Snowboard Media Guide IPC Snowboard Media Guide 7 Competition description Banked slalom Snowboard-cross (head-to-head) The ideal snowboard-cross may allow the the sport. At the moment, IPC Snowboard Each athlete competes three runs down During qualification, each athlete com- construction of any features excluding: also has a co-operation agreement with the course with their best run determin- pletes three runs down the course with gap jumps, corner jumps, spines and dou- the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) ing the final order based on ascending their best run determining the final order ble spines, cutting banks, giant slalom collaborating on the development and time. There is only one rider on the course based on ascending time. There is only turns and negative banks. technical aspects. at a time. The course may be a medium one rider on the course at a time during The sport owes its success to the deter- pitched slope. It may be a naturally vary- qualification. Snowboard-cross (time-trial) mination of a group of pioneering riders ing terrain, with plenty of bumps and dips, Finals consist of 16 men and eight wom- Each athlete competes three runs down who in 2005 began their quest to have the and preferably a U-shape/natural valley. en, with two competitors per heat or such the course with their best run determin- sport included at the Paralympic Winter other numbers as determined by the Jury. ing the final order based on ascending Games. time. There is only one rider on the course After many years of campaigning, in at a time. As with head-to-head, the event 2012 it was announced that snowboard takes place on a man-made course con- would make its debut at the Sochi 2014 structed from a variety of terrain features Paralympic Winter Games with two medal like bank turns. The course design is also events in lower-limb impairment classi- the same as head-to-head. fications for men and women in snow- board-cross time trial. Giant slalom A hugely successful debut which attract- Each athlete competes two runs down the ed worldwide media interest saw the course with the combined time determin- Netherlands’ Bibian Mentel-Spee secure ing the final order. There is only one rider the women’s gold whilst US rider Evan on the course at a time. General charac- Strong took the men’s. teristics and terrain of the course include This thrust snowboard onto the global a medium pitched slope, preferably with stage and in 2015, the first IPC Snow- various grades. The course may be per- board World Championships were held fectly groomed and the snow surface may in La Molina, Spain. Here, banked slalom be compacted. and snowboard-cross head-to-head were contested for the first time, whilst the low- er-limb impaired classifications were split History and upper-limb impaired riders also com- peted for coveted world titles. IPC Snowboard was initially governed by The 2015 World Championships saw the the World Snowboard Federation (WSF), culmination of ongoing improvements to but after a Memorandum of Understand- the classification system, including the ing was signed in 2010, it was taken un- separation of lower-limb impaired riders der IPC Alpine Skiing with a view to con- to SB-LL1 and SB-LL2 which was intro- tinue working with the WSF to develop duced during the 2014-15 season. 8 IPC Snowboard Media Guide IPC Snowboard Media Guide 9 Looking ahead to 2015-16 Competition calendar – 2015-2016 The 2015-16 season calendar will fea- Athletes will get their first chance to ture eight World Cups and the addition of test themselves in snowboard-cross at a Level Location, Country Date Programme Asian and North American (NorAm) Cups NorAm Cup in Aspen, USA, on 4 February Europa Cup Landgraaf, 18 November 2015 Banked slalom for the first time. closely followed by a World Cup from 5-6 Netherlands February also in Aspen. The calendar also features three Europa World Cup Landgraaf, 19 November 2015 Banked slalom Cups, two new World Cup venues in Les They will then travel to Big White, Canada, Netherlands Angles, France; and Trentino, Italy, and for a snowboard-cross and banked slalom World Cup Landgraaf, 20 November 2015 Banked slalom the new discipline of giant slalom. NorAm Cup (9-12 February) and a World Netherlands Cup (10-13 February) in the same disci- The race season has increased the reach plines. North American Cup Aspen Snowmass, 4 February 2016 Snowboard-cross and spread of snowboard as the sport USA gains momentum. The ongoing aim is to Then it is back to Europe to the site of the World Cup Aspen Snowmass 5-6 February 2016 Snowboard-cross 1, continue growing the number of athletes 2015 IPC Snowboard World Champion- USA snowboard-cross 2 and countries, particularly in Asia ahead ships in La Molina, Spain, on 4 March for of the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeo- a Europa Cup and a World Cup in snow- North American Cup Big White, 9-12 February 2016 Snowboard-cross, ngChang 2018 and Beijing 2022.