At 74, Karen Smith is still chasing the feeling she fell in love with as a kid: the freedom and aliveness of playing sports.

After years of sudden pain and uncertainty, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - news that could have ended her life in athletics. Instead, adaptive equipment helped her keep skiing, and it reshaped how she carried the diagnosis.

Through the Gaylord Sports Association, she helped expand a program now offering 17 adaptive sports, and she became a gold medal-winning goalie on Team USA’s women’s sled hockey team.

At Choate Ice Rink, she and veteran player Anthony Kuntz introduce Chion to sled hockey, and to Karen’s fierce belief in inclusion and the “dignity of risk.”

Suggested episodes:

GUESTS:

Karen Smith: Team manager of the Gaylord Wolfpack sled hockey team and a longtime leader in Connecticut’s adaptive sports community. In her early 60s, she earned the starting goalie position on Team USA’s Women’s Sled Hockey squad at the first IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Women's International Cup in 2014, winning gold alongside teammates decades younger
Anthony Kuntz: Gaylord Wolfpack sled hockey player from Colchester, Connecticut, who has spina bifida. He has 22 years of experience in the sport, including four on the U.S. Junior National Team, competing internationally in Vancouver during the 2010 Paralympic Games

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.