Noah Elliott Wins Back-to-Back in Landgraaf
The world's most dominant Para snowboard team took no time showing this year's competition that they are stronger than ever. The season kicked off in Landgraaf, Netherlands, with a set of banked slalom events, where the U.S. Para Snowboard Team secured seven podiums throughout two days of competition.
The competition was held in the “ice box,” an indoor venue that the team has grown to love, as it has become a familiar stop to start the season.
Noah Elliott’s back-to-back wins highlighted the event in a stacked field in the LL1 classification. Elliott, a two-time Paralympic medalist, has been an integral part of the U.S. team since 2017.
“I am thrilled to have had such an incredible start to the season. All summer, I have been preparing mentally and physically for how intense the season will become,” said Elliott. “I made it a point to spend more time in my recovery and strength training in preparation to ride at my absolute best. Moving forward, I’m continuing to train hard and push myself. I’m really looking forward to spending more time with my teammates on snow and at competitions.”
Due to a smaller pool of participants in the women’s LL1 and LL2 classifications, athletes will compete in combined-class events this season. Despite competing against athletes in different classifications, Brenna Huckaby showed her dominance in the women’s field by bringing home second and third-place finishes.
On day one, Evan Strong was also on the podium in the first event in third, followed by Keith Gabel in fourth, Zach Miller in fifth, and Joe Pleban in sixth. Additional podiums on day two of the competition came from Mike Minor in second and Miller in third. Just off the podium was Gabel with another solid fourth-place finish, along with Strong in fifth and Pleban in sixth.
The team is heading into a training block before their next World Cup event in Pyha, Finland, in February.
Noah Elliott
Noah learned about Paralympic snowboarding through a camp he attended for children with cancer and was inspired by meeting an adaptive athlete. This helped him start his journey, and he moved from the Midwest to begin training consistently. Elliott takes pride in hard work and dedication and enjoys sharing stories with others and learning new things.