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Glen Abramowski is an American para-alpine skier. Diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition retinitis pigmentosa, he has been legally blind since birth.
He represented the United States at the 1984 Winter Paralympics in alpine skiing; he won the silver medal at the Men's Giant Slalom B2 event. [1]
He won both a Silver and Bronze medal at the 1982 World Disabled Ski Championships in Switzerland, and won three Gold and one Silver medal at the 1990 World Disabled Ski Championships held at Winter Park in Colorado.
Graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in aerospace engineering, Abramowski went on to become Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Delta Gamma Center for Children with Visual Impairments [2] in St. Louis, Missouri, where he spearheaded charity events for blind youth.
In 2019 he featured on an episode of podcast The Geoholics. [3]
He continues to ski recreationally alongside his two children.
Paralympic alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the International Paralympic Committee Sports Committee. The primary equipment used includes outrigger skis, sit-skis, and mono-skis. Para-alpine skiing disciplines include the Downhill, Super-G, Giant slalom, Slalom, Super Combined and Snowboard.
{{Cara Dunne-Yates was a scholar-athlete, bioethicists, linguist, lawyer, advocate, writer, poet, and mother of two. She was a Paralympic medalist in both winter and summer sports. She was Harvard-educated, and the only disabled First Marshall of any major university. She was also a UCLA-educated lawyer (1997), who was the first to legally fight the Law School Admission Council in order to make them use a Braille examination format of the LSAT.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland competed at the 1992 Winter Paralympics held in Tignes and Albertville, France. The team was known by it shortened name of Great Britain, for identification purposes.
The 1984 Winter Paralympics, then known as The Third World Winter Games for the Disabled, were held in Innsbruck, Austria. The games took place from the 15 until 21 January. Present at these games were 419 athletes from 21 countries, Spain and the Netherlands competing for the first time in the Winter Paralympics, competing in 107 events across 3 sports. The inclusion of Les Austres and Cerebral palsy impairment groups contributing to the distinct increase in athlete participation with the total number of athletes jumping from 229 at Geilo, Norway in 1980.
Following the success of the first ever 1976 Winter Paralympics in Örnsköldsvik four years earlier, Norway was selected to host the Paralympic Games in 1980.
The 1994 Winter Paralympics were held in Lillehammer, Norway. Australia sent six male skiers, who won three gold, two silver and four bronze medals. Australia, at the time, achieved their best ever performance at a Winter Paralympics, finishing 5th overall in the alpine skiing competition, 9th in the medal standings, and 11th in the total medal count out of 31 nations.
Australia competed at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States from 8 March to 19 March 2002. The Salt Lake Paralympics are the eighth such winter games, the first Winter Paralympics ever in North America and the first Winter Paralympics ever set up by an Olympic organizing committee. Although many of the Paralympic expenses were covered by dual planning with the Olympics, organizers still spent about $60 million on the Paralympics, including $5 million on the opening and closing ceremonies. The Salt Lake Games featured 92 events across four sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country, and ice sledge hockey. The 36 competing countries sent a total of 416 participants. Australia was represented by six male alpine skiers: Peter Boonaerts, Bart Bunting, Michael Milton, Scott Adams, Cameron Rahles-Rahbula, and Mark Drinnan. The medal haul was seven, consisting of six gold and one silver. Australia finished 8th overall in the gold and total medal count, making it the country's most successful Winter Games in terms of gold medals.
Melissa Perrine is a B2 classified visually impaired para-alpine skier from Australia. She has competed at the four Winter Paralympics from 2010 to 2022. At the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, she won three gold, one silver and one bronze medals. At the 2018 Winter Paralympics, she won two bronze medals.
Armenia sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia from 7–16 March 2014. This was the nation's fifth appearance at a Winter Paralympic Games. The delegation consisted of a single alpine skier, Mher Avanesyan, who lost both arms as a child after coming into contact with a high-voltage electrical wire. In the men's standing slalom he came in 34th place out of 35 competitors who finished the race, and he failed to finish the giant slalom.
Greece sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia from 7–16 March 2014. This was Greece's third appearance at a Winter Paralympic Games. Their only athlete was alpine skier Efthymios Kalaras. He suffered a spinal cord injury two decades before these Paralympics, and was a returning Paralympic silver medalist from the 2004 Summer Paralympics in the discus throw. He finished 22nd in the sitting giant slalom, nearly a minute behind the gold medal time.
New Zealand sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, held between 7–16 March 2014. The country continued its streak of competing in every Winter Paralympics since 1984. New Zealand's delegation consisted of three competitors in alpine skiing, one of whom, Corey Peters, won a silver medal in the giant slalom. With one silver medal, the country tied for 16th on the medal table for these Paralympics.
Macmilton "Mac" Marcoux is a Canadian Paralympic alpine skier who won three titles at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup at the age of 15. With guide Robin Femy, he won three medals in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, including gold in the men's visually impaired giant slalom. He also has numerous awards including being inducted into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame. He has an older brother and a younger sister. He also enjoys riding BMX and mountain bikes.
Brian Santos is an American skier who won nine U.S. Championships and six Paralympic gold medals. Santos won all six para-alpine skiing events in which he competed across Albertville in the 1992 Winter Paralympics and Lillehammer in the 1994 Winter Paralympics. In each event his guide was Ray Watkins. Santos and Watkins were inducted into the National Disabled Ski Hall of Fame in December 2015, making Santos the first visually-impaired racer to be given the honor and Watkins the first guide. Santos retired from competitive skiing in 1996 and later became a coach at the College of the Siskiyous
Patrick Jensen is a B2 classified visually impaired Para-alpine skier from Australia. He represented Australia at the 2018 Winter Paralympics and the 2022 Winter Paralympics.
Giacomo Bertagnolli is a male Italian paralympic alpine skier, and is a four-time Paralympic Games gold medal winner.
Josef Meusburger is an Austrian para-alpine skier.
Peter Perner is an Austrian para-alpine skier. He represented Austria at five Winter Paralympics: 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992.
Eugen Diethelm is a Swiss para-alpine skier. He represented Switzerland at the 1976 Winter Paralympics, at the 1980 Winter Paralympics and at the 1984 Winter Paralympics. In total, he won one gold medal, one silver medal and one bronze medal.
Sheila Holzworth was an American para-alpine skier. After going blind at age ten, she went on to win two gold medals and a silver medal at the 1984 Winter Paralympics as part of the United States delegation, among other achievements.
Gunilla Ahren is a Swedish Paralympic alpine skier. She represented Sweden in Paralympic Alpine skiing at the 1984 Paralympic Winter Games, and 1988 Paralympic Winter Games. She won of six medals: four golds, one silver and one bronze.