Team USA para-alpine skier Thomas Walsh talks about lessons learned from his experience in PyeongChang and how his relationship with Olympian Mikaela Shiffrin is helping him become the best skier he can be.
Video transcript
THOMAS WALSH: Hello, I am Thomas Walsh. I’m really excited to train here, to get back on skis after an injury I suffered last season. I’m really looking to build on that experience I had at the last Paralympic Games. I came out very strong and really learned a lot, and had three great years winning a Crystal Globe and a couple of World Cup medals. So, I feel pretty good, I’m getting stronger and I’m going to keep training and skiing.
I had the privilege of growing up with Mikaela in our home town of Vail, and it was a great experience to watch the two of us hit our own pro ski trails. Reconnecting with Mikaela this summer, we went out and had fun and went to the driving range and played a little golf. And somehow seeing this life off the ski slopes has really helped push me to work harder when I’m on the slope.
I always ask for tips and tricks, you know, techniques and thoughts on different things in skiing. But it’s really a blessing to be able to push each other and get a taste of this different world of skiing.
Valid skiing and paralympic and disabled skiing are very distinct worlds. We do the same thing on similar slopes, and we try to go as fast as we can, but we do it so differently, and the worlds around it are, you know, very different. So having this kind of comparison brings us closer and also pushes me to ski faster.
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