Alex's Story
Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin made his third Olympic snowboard cross appearance at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, finishing in 6th place. The dual World Champion breezed through to the big final, after winning his semi-final ahead of eventual silver medallist Jarryd Hughes. A crash in the final meant Pullin finished in sixth place -- his best Olympic result to date.
Pullin landed on the Olympic stage at the Vancouver Games in 2010, posting the fastest qualifying time in the snowboard cross event, but crashed out in the first round of head-to-head racing, placing 17th overall.
After Vancouver, the boarder from Mansfield, Victoria launched an assault on the World Cup circuit with a succession of podium finishes that saw him win the overall 2011 World Cup title and take out the 2011 World Championships in La Molina, Spain. In 2013 Pullin had what he described as ‘the perfect season’ executing flawless race plans. He made seven finals from seven races to grab the World Cup title again. He also defended his World title, winning back-to-back Championships in Stoneham, Canada.
Pullin competed at his second Olympics at Sochi in 2014, carrying the Australian flag in the Opening Ceremony. He breezed through the round of 32 but in his quarter-final bad luck played its trump card, setting him an insurmountable challenge. After missing the start, he fought his way back to be within reach of the leaders, only to choose a line through a corner that was affected by soft snow, causing him to dig in an edge of his board, which washed off much of his speed. It was a situation that not even Pullin, one of the best race technicians in the sport, could fix, relegating him to 13th overall.
The 29-year-old finished the 2016/17 World Cup season ranked fourth in the world. He won the Feldberg World Cup in Germany in February, and won two bronze World Cup medals in Montafon, Austria and Veysonnaz, Switzerland. At the 2017 Sierra Nevada World Championships in Spain, Chumpy went head-to-head with the world’s best boarders in the six-man final, fighting his way to claim the bronze medal. Pullin claimed the first World Cup of the 2017/2018 season at Cerro Catedral in Argentina and headed into the Games as the World #1.
Under tragic circumstances, 'Chumpy' passed away in July 2020.
