Snowboarder Earns First Medal of Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025!

Gonzalo Escobar from Special Olympics Chile earned the first medal of the Special Olympics World Winter Games Turin 2025!

Gonzalo, who traveled to Turin from Santiago, Chile, competed in the Advanced Giant Slalom Snowboarding Final where he finished in first place with a time of 1:40.370, almost 4 seconds faster than his closest competitor.

The snowboarding competition began at Melezet in Bardonecchia early Tuesday, 11 March, morning with athletes taking to the slopes for warmups and quickly getting into action. Escobar competed in Divisioning earlier in the day, finishing the heat with a time of 49.160 putting him in the D01 group—the top level of the snowboarding competition for both men and women at the Turin Games.

After exiting the starting shoot, Gonzalo took off down the mountain with record speeds, making swift cuts as he maneuvered himself through the gates. As he neared the finish, Gonzalo stayed in a tucked position gaining him as much pace as he could before crossing the finish line to clinch the gold.

He was honored with his medal at an award ceremony later in the day along with the medalist from the Intermediate and Novice Giant Slalom Finals.

This is Gonzalo’s first World Games experience, but not his first international competition. In 2020, he competed in the Unified X Games in Aspen, Colorado with Special Olympics and got a taste of what it feels like to compete on a world stage.

At home in Santiago, the snowboarder is very involved in his Special Olympics program and was recently elected the President of the Regional Athlete Leadership Council (RALC) with Special Olympics Chile where he helps inspire and teach other people with intellectual disabilities.