Depth has made Paralympics more competitive
The perception bothered Sean Halsted, a disabled Air Force veteran, born into a military family, who paved his way through hard work and never had anything handed to him.
He shattered a vertebrae in his lower back in 1998, when he fell 40 feet from a helicopter, and within eight years, he was a regular in Paralympic skiing circles. He said most people thought, “Because I’m in a chair, here you go, here’s your spot.”
It’s a mentality that largely has changed, as about 60 Americans, with stiff competition in the U.S. in five winter adaptive sports and much tougher challenges abroad from the likes of Russia, Germany and Norway, enter the Paralympics in March in Vancouver.
An influx of disabled soldiers from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with more opportunities through 100-plus Paralympic sports clubs, boosted the depth in the pipeline for the Americans, who finished seventh in 2006 with 12 medals.
They now boast talent across the board, like Colorado Springs skier Allison Jones, a five-time Paralympic medalist; and curler Augusto Perez, who led the U.S. to a bronze medal at the 2008 world championships. And they have money — a projected $13 million in new appropriations next year for Paralympic sports clubs.
Halsted said when qualifying for the Paralympics, “it’s not just because you’re in a chair it’s automatic. You’ve got to compete against somebody. You’ve got to work. You’ve got to focus on your training, making you stronger and faster.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re the best player in the country,” Perez added. “You cannot sit back and relax on glory days because you’ll lose your spot.”
