History was made when Belle Brockhoff and snowboarding legend Alex Pullin both won gold at the 2016 Snowboard Cross World Cup in Spain. Not only was it Brockhoff’s first World Cup gold medal win, it was also the first time Australia won double gold in the history of the event.
“I started skiing at age three, and was given a snowboard when I was 10,” Brockhoff remembers. “I’d practise [in the Victorian Alps] from when the first lift opened to when it finally stopped every day, and I even hiked the slopes after that so I could get better at it.”
She took on her very first international comp a year later in 2004, and followed that up by competing in the World Cup at age 17. But that’s not all. She became the first Australian woman to win a Snowboard Cross World Cup medal in 2012 by bringing home bronze.
Since then Brockhoff has competed right around the globe, most recently snaring gold at the 2017 Word Cup in Bulgaria. Nice!
Yet, while her future is looking beyond bright, there was a time when all she felt was darkness.
“My biggest challenge has been getting through depression during my teenage years. It came to a point where I attempted to take my own life,” she says.
“Snowboarding gave me light during that time. While I was out riding one day, I came to a realisation that I was the only one who could pull myself out of the dark hole,” explains the BeyondBlue ambassador.
“I didn’t want to be depressed anymore. I had to make that mental switch- snowboarding gave me peace and happiness.” Amen to that!
Discover what the Women’s Health initiative WinS is and how you can get involved here.
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