Tyler Turner wins gold in snowboard cross at world championships

Tyler Turner of Campbell River, B.C. capped another outstanding season Sunday with the gold medal in the men’s LL1 snowboard cross at the Para snowboard world championships in Big White, B.C.

It’s his third straight world title.

“There was a lot of pressure,” said Turner to CPC. ”I mean, I’ve done it twice before. I know what it feels like, but to actually get it done, it’s not easy. So it’s feeling pretty good. It’s a lot of relief.
I knew I could do it if I could ride my best, and I was able to go out there and do exactly that.

”I rode to my best ability and I was able to pull it off.”

Turner, also the season World Cup champion in the event and the 2002 Paralympic Games champion, won the four-man final ahead of Elliott Noah of the U.S. in second and Oguri Daichi of Japan in third.

Turner was thrilled to show his savoir-faire on home soil and with family and fiends in attendance.

“Doing it at home is crazy,” he said. ”It’s a whole different experience because you’re managing, like, dinners and, you know, meeting with the grandparents and everything, but it’s so incredible when you can actually pull it off and have that support there.

”I mean, my wife has actually never seen a race, so what a cool first race to come to. And and my mum, my grandparents, they’ve really never seen me race. ”So it’s pretty cool to do it here at Big White.”

In the men’s LL2, Philippe Nadreau of Blainville, Que. took the B final for fifth overall while two-time Paralympian Alex Massie of Barrie, Ont. was eighth.

The competition ends Monday with the team event.