Jarryd Hughes is an Australian snowboarder that competes in the snowboard cross discipline. He was selected for his third Australian Olympic team for the Beijing 2022 Winter Games
As an up-and-coming snowboard cross athlete, Jarryd claimed silver in the 2012 Junior World Championship. He then suffered a major setback in 2013 and required knee surgery.
However, with the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics around the corner, Hughes was motivated to return to full fitness. Jarryd performed well in the lead-up to Sochi including a win at the World Cup event in Lake Louise, Canada. He was placed well for his maiden Winter Olympic Games and finished 17th overall.
As a 17-year-old, Jarryd debuted in his first world cup in February 2012 in Stoneham, Canada, and finished in an impressive seventh. The following month is when he claimed his Junior World Championship Silver in Sierra Nevada, Spain.
After missing the 2013 Australian domestic winter season he made an impressive return to the world cup circuit for the 2013/14 season. Jarryd prepared for his Australian Olympic team debut as the world’s number two ranked SBX boarder on the FIS World Cup Rankings.
During the 2014/15 season, Jarryd further proved his world-class riding with an eighth and a fourth-place finish in the Switzerland world cups. By 2015/16, he had found his form to win gold at the X-Games in Aspen, USA. Jarryd led a historic Australian one-two finish with teammate, Alex “Chumpy” Pullin in second.
His 2016/17 saw a reverse of the one-two finish for the teammates, with Jarryd claiming the silver medal and Alex the gold in Feldberg, Germany. 2017 also saw him claim his second podium gold at Montafon, Austria.
Lining up for his second Olympic Games at PyeongChang, the 22-year-old claimed the silver medal in a hotly contested men’s snowboard cross final – Australia’s first Olympic medal in the SBX event.
A knee injury in the 2018/19 season saw Jarryd side-lined for most of the season, with a season’s best performance of 11th at the world cup event in Bacqueira Beret, Spain. The Olympic silver medallist underwent an arthroscopic procedure for his left knee and spent the remainder of the season focused on recovery.
2021/22 saw much disruption to the season with postponed or cancelled events, however, did not deter Jarryd from enjoying the success of Australia’s first-ever gold medal in the team event at the 2021 World Championships in Idre Fjall, Sweden. Teaming up with fellow NSW Institute of Sport athlete, Belle Brockhoff, the pair took the win in the team event which was due to debut in the Olympic Programme at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
At the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, it was heartbreak for Jarryd when a crash in the 1/8 Final of the men’s snowboard cross ultimately left him knocked out of the competition. He finished his third Olympics campaign in 29th place overall.