Despite recently returning from injury, 13 year old snowboarder Tom Robinson rode his way into first place at the British Indoor Slopestyle Championships last weekend, taking Gold in the Under 16s category.
Tom, who lives in Wilmslow, has had a difficult past 12 months, having been flown home from Austria last year to receive surgery after a training accident. However, his love for the sport and dedication has been instrumental in his rehabilitation back into snowboarding, working tirelessly with his coach Ben Kinnear.
Ben Kinnear said: "Tom's attitude and commitment to improving his performance is a real asset to his own development and to those around him. His ability to come back from a fairly long-term injury and overcome a set-back like this means he thoroughly deserved his success. I look forward to seeing Tom continue to improve this season."
This was Tom's first competition since recovering from a dislocated elbow and a broken growth plate and he knew it was going to be difficult, having been out for almost a year.
Tom rode well in the open jam format but unfortunately didn't make it to the overall final. However, he nailed both of his runs in the U16 category, and his skill and dedication did not go unnoticed by the judges.
When they began announcing the podium places, Tom did not expect to make it into the top three, so to hear his name called out for first place took him massively by surprise.
After securing his first win since last year Tom said: "It's been hard coming back after several injuries this time but I still love riding and it was great to ride with my team mate Billy Cockrell who won silver. I'm looking forward now to going to Austria this weekend with the team and getting ready for the European competitions in January."
Photo: Courtesy of Anthony Moss.
