Making his Paralympic debut, sit skier Kyle Taulman — one of two Alpine collegians on Team USA alongside Colorado State alum Allie Johnson — also gained much of his competitive athletic experience and life lessons while playing wheelchair tennis at the University of Colorado. Taulman, who is racing the slalom on Saturday at the Yanqing Alpine Centre, took up sports as a kid after a high-risk neuroblastoma wrapped around his spinal cord and left him paralyzed at age 2.

He competed at the 2021 College Wheelchair Tennis Championships at the USTA National Campus in Orlando and credits wheelchair tennis in improving his skiing.

“I was a skier long before I was a tennis player, and for a long time I’ve tried to find ways to strengthen my core, but being paralyzed from the waist down, there haven’t been many options,” Taulman said. “When I discovered wheelchair tennis after I graduated high school, it was a new outlet for me through sport.

“Working on generating power and speed so I can move faster in my chair on the court has allowed me to greatly improve my skiing by giving me more core strength and stability that I had been lacking. It allowed me to completely change my way of skiing to be more athletic over time. It has and will continue to make me a better and faster skier.”

Nordic skiing’s Dan Cnossen competed in triathlon at the U.S. Naval Academy and Danielle Aravich represented Butler University in track and field. Two-time Paralympic sled hockey champion Kevin McKee played wheelchair basketball whule attending Wilbur Wright College, while his teammate Travis Dodson and Nordic athlete Aaron Pike both raced for the University of Illinois in track and field.

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