Chumpy’s charge to gold

Alex Pullin has become the latest NSWIS world champion by taking gold overnight in the men’s snowboard cross at the 2011 FIS Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain.

The NSWIS athlete, known as ‘Chumpy’ on the international circuit, had his fair share of work to do in the final, coming up against Olympic champion Scott Westcott, American Nate Holland and Italian Luca Matteoti.

Westcott and Holland took silver and bronze, respectively, but it was Pullin who provided the most action as he lead from start to finish to become Australia’s first ever world champion in snowboarding.

Pullin has been a regular fixture on the world cup circuit over the past number of years, and last year qualified for the finals of the snowboard cross at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games before crashing out.