Shannon Bloedel | |
|---|---|
| Born | c.1960 |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | University of Washington |
| Occupation | rehabilitation counselor |
| Known for | Paralympic silver Sit-skiing medalist and model |
Shannon Bloedel was an American Paralympian sit-skier. She won an Olympic silver medal in the 1992 Paralympics. Bloedel then became a model for Nordstrom.
Bloedel was the last of ten Catholic children when she was born in about 1960. Her mother was a nurse and her father was a doctor. [1] The family were keen on waterskiing. [2]
An accident when she was aged ten when her minibike had a collision with a car. [1] The accident left Bloedel without the use of her legs [3] so she had a wheelchair at Wilson High in Tacoma. At school she was keen on sport including tennis, swimming, javelin and weightlifting [1] and at home her brothers would pull her along in a toboggan through the snow. [2] She decided to ski whilst attending the University of Washington where she studied for a degree in social work and a master's in rehabilitation therapy. She was recruited by a ski instructor at the campus. [1]
She joined the national team in 1987. [3] She won gold medals at the National Championships in the US and Canada in 1991. [3] At the 1992 Winter Paralympics Bloedel took a silver medal at Albertville in the Giant Slalom coming second to Marit Ruth whose time was 2:36:78. Teammate Candace Cable of the USA came third. [4]
Bloedel did some modelling of clothes. [5] She became pregnant and retired from skiing to live with husband and children in Seattle. [3] In 2016 she was inducted into the North-West Ski Hall of Fame. The others honoured were Judy Nagel Johnson, Nobi Kano and Lenore Lyle. [2]