As usual, however, the athletes themselves managed to cut through the clutter and deliver indelible moments that reaffirm why the Paralympics matter. These are the American amputees whose exploits in Beijing made the biggest impression on us.
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Category: Beijing 2022
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Tears and Triumphs at the Winter Paralympics
The Paralympics have always been about more than winning and losing. Here's a sampling of perspectives from Beijing that show why the world is drawn to the Paralympic flame.
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Why Isn’t Speed Skating a Paralympic Sport?
Caitlin Conner spent years working on a speed skate for lower-limb amputees. Now she's moving on to an even bigger project: getting speed skating established as a Paralympic sport.
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Secret Lives of Team USA’s Amputee Athletes
Away from athletics, most amputees on the US Paralympic team are regular people with ordinary lives. By which we mean: They're as weird and wacky as the rest of us.
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Team USA’s Top Amputee Rookies at the Beijing Paralympics
A number of impressive newcomers have earned their berths on Team USA. Here are the first-time Winter Paralympians we're most excited to see next month in Beijing.
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Four Things to Know About Paralympic Skier Thomas Walsh
A childhood cancer survivor and above-knee amputee, Thomas Walsh is an all-around ski talent who can vie for the podium in all four alpine disciplines.
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Courtney Godfrey Wants to Make Some News at the Beijing Paralympics
TV reporter Courtney Godfrey is trying to become a first-time Paralympian at age 37. If she succeeds, she’ll be one of Team USA’s unlikeliest members.
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Top Amputee Performers at World Para Snow Sports Championships
The Winter Paralympics are approaching, and the World Para Snow Sports Championships provided a sneak preview of Team USA's top amputee performers.
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The Grandfather of Adaptive Skiing
Among prosthetists, Paul Leimkuehler is well remembered as a trail-blazing practitioner who helped establish the standards of the profession. But Leimkuehler’s other major contribution to the limb-loss community was nearly forgotten until last year. That’s when his granddaughter, Katie Leimkuehler, unveiled Fresh Tracks, her documentary about Paul Leimkuehler’s invention of the outrigger adaptive ski in...
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2022 Winter Paralympics: Amputee FAQ
Through 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympic/Paralympics were always held in the same calendar year. It was only in 1994 that the IOC modified the schedule to create a staggered cycle, with Summer Games during leap years and Winter Games two years later. Because of the one-year pandemic delay, the calendar has temporarily reverted to...
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Adaptive Spirit: 25 Years of Support for the Paralympics
A quarter-century is an impressive run for any fundraiser, but Adaptive Spirit merits an extra tip of the cap: It literally saved the US Paralympic Ski Team from oblivion back in the mid-1990s. In the years since, Adaptive Spirit has helped Team USA roll up more Winter Paralympic medals than any other nation.
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Backcountry Skiing Hacks for Amputees
Above-elbow amputee Matt Meredith has written his own how-to manual for backcountry skiing, while tuning out the doubts of able-bodied skiers who consider the sport too dangerous for an adaptive athlete.