X-Games gold fuelling Jarryd Hughes’ hunger for Olympic glory

There are 500 days until the Pyeonchang 2018 Winter Olympics and NSWIS snowboard cross star Jarryd Hughes has his sights set on a gold medal after tasting success at the X-Games in January this year.

At just 18-years-old Hughes made his Winter Olympic debut at the Sochi 2014 Games, coming into the snowboard cross event ranked second in the FIS World Cup rankings and among the favourites.

However the Sydneysider was knocked out in the quarterfinals and finished in 17^th place. Despite the disappointment, he believes that he has come along way in the years since.

“Probably the biggest thing is patience which in boardercross is a very hard thing to learn,” Hughes told the Australian Olympic Committee.

“Since Sochi I’ve learnt a lot about competing on tour and what it takes to be a professional athlete and focus on what is important to perform at your best.”

Come January this year Hughes was the man to beat at the X-Games event in Aspen, Colorado. He became the first Australian male in history to claim the snowboard cross gold medal and the youngest athlete to achieve that feat.

He and fellow NSWIS athlete Torah Bright are the only Aussies to have won X-Games gold.

“It was always a goal to win a medal at X-Games but just to compete is a dream come true,” Hughes enthused.

“You don’t qualify for X Games, you are invited, so it is a tough road just to get that invite.

“The only thing that I believe that will ever give me that same feeling is winning in Korea.

“It’s amazing to think that for as long as boardercross has been around, that I’m the youngest person to ever win this event.

“I have set myself a number of goals with my career and to tick this one means I can focus on the big one in Korea.”

Hughes made his first mark on the world stage with a silver medal at the 2012 Junior World Championships. He then went on to finish 11^th at his first world championships in 2013.

His swift rise to the top continued in 2013 when he qualified for his first Olympic Games off the back of his first world cup win at Lake Louise, Canada.

Irrespective of an Olympic campaign that didn’t run to script in Sochi, Hughes went on to say that he had been humbled to be named as an Olympian.

“It’s something that I always wanted to achieve since watching my first Olympics live in Sydney, then watching Torah [Bright] win Gold in Vancouver.

“The title, Olympian, is something you earn through your sporting performances but you quickly realise that it is a responsibility that you need to honour everyday through your actions.”

With plenty of experience, Hughes’ immediate attention will now turn to qualifying for the 2018 Games, which has 40 quota spots available in the men’s snowboard cross event.

Olympic hopefuls have until January 22, 2018 to accumulate world ranking points on the Olympic Quota Allocation List and FIS Points List which will determine which 40 competitors will be eligible for Pyeonchang.

Hughes will commence his international season, and quest for a second Olympic berth in November this year.