It started with a simple, but powerful, gesture. The riders in the inaugural snowboard-cross competition at the Sochi Winter Paralympics joined arms while gathering around a sign that read 'We ride for Matty' to honour the memory of Australian para-snowboarder Matthew Robinson, who died after a competition crash last month.
It finished with the emergence of Sydney teenager Ben Tudhope who, at 14 years old, has plenty of time, and more importantly talent, to become one of the biggest names in the sport.
"I think Australia has a new superstar," said teammate Trent Milton, after Tudhope finished 10th in a 33-rider field on Friday.
At that moment, there would have been few that disagreed. Tudhope has been hot property since arriving in Sochi as major international networks jostled for time with the Games' youngest competitor, who had charmed with his sense of humour and public down-to-earth demeanour.
Tudhope stole the show at Rosa Khutor on Friday despite American skiers breaking cleansweeping the podium. In a remarkable performance, Tudhope, who has cerebral palsy which has partially paralysed the left side of his body, posted three clean runs of under one minute and showed up far older and more experienced riders who could not handle the course.
"I gave him a big hug and a big cuddle. He's earned it, he deserves it," said Milton, who finished 17th.
"I call him a tadpole on a board because that's what he looks like. He 's so small but he's skills are phenomenal.
"Ben Tudhope is the star of the future and I am so proud for snowboarding that he is with us."
Australia's head snowboard-cross coach Peter Higgins said he was "over the moon" but not surprised by Tudhope's placing.
"We got a top 10 from 14 year old kid so its as good as it gets," he said.
"He's been riding really well all season. Some tracks suit Ben's small stature and other tracks don't. This one was right in the middle so I knew he was right in there for a top 10.
"There's something special going on here and I can't wait to see what sort of heights he can achieve."
Tudhope's mother, Melissa, said the family "could not be prouder".
"I'm speechless," Melissa Tudhope said.
"Ben loves this world so much ... and this is the icing on the cake so to get that wild card (qualification for the Games) was very special.
"He would still be doing it anyway, no matter if it happened or not."
"Now that this has happened I can imagine Ben staying within the snowboarding community once he leaves school and working within the community.
However, when Tudhope had his chance to talk, he immediately brought the attention back to his motivating force. The 28-year-old Robinson had been one of his closest friends and the pair were often seen performing carefully chereographed handshakes before races.
"Matty Robinson was a big encouragement for me and he lifted my game a lot," Tudhope said.
"It was just all for him."
Robinson was a pioneer of para-snowboarding in Australia and was well liked and respected internationally and that was shown by a simple gesture before the start of competition.
"We had a sign at the top of the hill with 'We ride for Matty'," Milton said.
"Around 40 riders got around the sign, all arm in arm, and every ride before we started there was a big cheer of 'we ride for Matty'.
"He was not forgotten."
America's Michael Shea, who took the silver behind Evan Strong, said it had been an emotionally draining time but he believed that Robinson was still "telling dirty jokes and having fun".
"He would make you laugh, you'd be peeing your pants because you we're laughing so hard. He was just a funny dude," Shea said. "That's Matty."
Meanwhile, the Netherlands' Bibian Mentel-Spee won the women's snowboard-cross in which Australia's Joany Badenhorst injured her knee during the warmup and could not compete. The talented 19 year old fell awkwardly and dislocated her knee cap on her left leg, on which she wears her prosthetic leg.
She was transported to the athlete village medical clinic where it was put back into place.
"She apparently was in a lot of pain," Higgins said. "She dislocated her patella and following that comes a lot of pain and a lot of rehabilitation and hopefully she'll be up to the challenge and we'll see her on the world cup circuit next year."
