Meet 10 Colorado athletes competing in the 2022 Winter Paralympics
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Jasmin Bambur in the men's sitting giant slalom race in January during the World Championships in Norway. Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Ten Colorado athletes will compete in the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, kicking off with an Opening Ceremony tonight in Beijing.
What to watch: The competitions begin Saturday and wrap up March 13.
Why it matters: Colorado is home to more athletes than any of the other 27 states represented in this year's matches, according to Team USA.
Meet the athletes:
Alpine skiing
Jasmin Bambur, Granby: The 42-year-old originally from Serbia makes his fourth appearance at the Winter Olympics this year. Having never made the Paralympic podium, he is determined to get there in 2022.
- Bambur, who was paralyzed after injuring his spinal cord in a car accident, was inspired to pursue athletics in 1992 upon meeting Paralympic gold medalist Bert Burns.
Tyler Carter, Colorado Springs: The 28-year-old will compete in his third and final Paralympics. He was also named one of the Opening Ceremony flag bearers.
- Carter, who was born without a fibula, had his leg amputated as an infant. He now mentors elementary school students in the Denver and San Francisco Bay areas.
Allie Johnson, Fraser: The Chicago resident is making her Paralympic debut this year after placing fifth in the women's super-G standing category at the final World Cup competition in Sweden and 10th in the super-G at the world championships in Norway.
- Johnson was born with an underdeveloped right arm and works as a therapeutic horse riding instructor at National Sports Center for the Disabled.
Kyle Taulman, Golden: The 19-year-old CU Boulder student makes his first Paralympic Games appearance after finishing 12th in the super G at the world championships in Sweden.
- Taulman, who was paralyzed as a toddler due to health complications that compromised his spinal cord, also plays wheelchair tennis at CU Boulder.
Thomas Walsh, Vail: The 27 year old is attending the Paralympics for the second time after placing in several competitions in the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
- The Vail native and current resident was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma and had his final cancer radiation treatment in 2010.
Sled hockey
Ralph DeQuebec, Denver: The 38-year-old two-time Paralympian and one-time Paralympic gold medalist is also a member of the Colorado Avalanche Sled Hockey team.
- DeQuebec earned the Purple Heart after one of his legs had to be amputated above the knee due to a 2012 injury when an improvised explosive device detonated in Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Malik Jones, Aurora: The 19-year-old up-and-coming talent makes his Paralympic debut this year and is named one of the top Team USA athletes to watch in Beijing.
- Jones is a double amputee and skated with the U.S. Development Sled Hockey Team for three seasons.
Snowboarding
Zach Miller, Silverthorne: The young world champion competes in the Paralympic Games for the first time this year after winning gold at the 2021 World Championships.
- Miller, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 6 months old, also won eight World Cup medals in 2018 at age 21.
Mike Minor, Frisco: The 31-year-old is a two-time Paralympics medalist who is making his second appearance in the games this year.
- Minor, who was born without his right forearm, has been snowboarding since he was 7.
Wheelchair curling
Pam Wilson, Westminster: At age 66, Wilson is the oldest athlete on Team USA and is making her Paralympics debut just a decade after first trying out the sport.
- Wilson, who was left partially paralyzed from a car accident in the 1970s, is a physician at Children's Hospital Colorado.
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