Perfect ending to season lifts Massie to World Cup crown

OTTAWA – Alex Massie of Barrie, Ont., took gold in banked slalom and Monday’s snowboard cross event at the Para snowboard World Cup final held in Klovsjo, Sweden. With the victories he receives the Crystal Globe as the season champion.

The victories cap a great season on the circuit for the 2018 Paralympian. Massie won 11 medals on the circuit including five victories and four second place finishes. Eight of those medals came in the snowboard cross events and a gold and two bronze in the banked slalom.

The Canadian beat out the likes of 2019 world champion Keith Gabel of the USA in one race; and Gabel’s teammate Zach Miller in the other final. With Monday’s triumphs, Massie jumped ahead of Australia’s Ben Tudhope, who finished second in both the overall and border-cross rankings.

Massie made his Paralympic Winter Games debut in 2018.  He has practiced snowboarding since his youth but a wakeboarding accident in 2011 resulted in him losing his left leg below the knee, which changed his plans.

He returned to snowboarding after his accident and adapted so well to his prosthetic leg that he decided to pursue a competitive career in the sport. In addition, in 2013, Massie returned to football with the Barrie North Collegiate Sr. Wildcats and was a starter on the offensive line.