Cardrona NZ National Adaptive Snowboard Team member Carl Murphy was born with only one and a half legs but that hasn’t stopped him from getting up on a snowboard and competing at an international level. Carl rides his board with the help of a custom designed carbon fibre prosthetic leg.
Carl represented New Zealand in Para snowboard cross at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games and achieved an impressive fourth place finish in his Paralympic debut. This has made him more determined to win a Paralympic medal and spurred on his performances at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in South Korea. Despite not winning a medal in 2018, Carl put on a brilliant showing, pushing the world’s top ranked Para snowboard to his limits in an electrifying race.
He started off his 2014/15 northern hemisphere campaign by winning bronze in Para snowboard Cross at the Europa Cup and World Cup silver in the new Paralympic discipline of banked slalom. In January Carl went one better, winning World Cup gold in this discipline in Canada. He also took out World Cup bronze in the Men’s Snowboard Cross. Carl was invited to compete at the X Games at the end of the January 2015. In a nail biting finals race and testament to Carl’s competitive nature he launched over the finish line and claimed the silver medal.
In 2013 Carl won the Snow Sports NZ Overall Athlete of the Year Award and was recognised as the Snow Sports NZ Adaptive Snow Sports Athlete of the Year.
In his spare time, Carl is an architectural designer, husband and father.
Carl officially received his ‘numbered’ Paralympic pin as part of The Celebration Project in Dunedin in February 2021.
