Meet the Minnesotans who competed in the 2022 Beijing Paralympics
The five Minnesotans in Beijing won four medals, including three for cross-country skier Sydney Peterson of Lake Elmo.
BATOYUN URANCHIMEG
Wheelchair curling
Minnesota connection: Burnsville
Paralympic experience: first
Uranchimeg, a native of Mongolia, tried lots of adaptive sports after a car accident in 2000 left her paralyzed from the waist down. She enjoyed them all, but she didn't find her true athletic calling until she discovered curling six years ago. Last year Uranchimeg helped the U.S. qualify for the Paralympics with a victory in the world wheelchair B championship and a fourth-place finish at the world championships. She played lead for the U.S. team and is one of two women on the mixed-gender squad, along with alternate Pam Wilson.
Results: The U.S. finished in fifth place with a 5-5 record.
MIKE SCHULTZ
Snowboarding
Minnesota connection: St. Cloud
Paralympic experience: second (2018)
Before he became a Paralympian, Schultz already was a fixture at the X Games, with 10 gold medals and one silver in motorsports events. Snowboarding gave him a new way to add to his trophy case. Four years after his international debut in the sport, Schultz won the gold medal in snowboard cross and took silver in banked slalom at the 2018 Paralympics. He's also won multiple world championships medals, including two silvers at the most recent worlds in January. A Litchfield native and graduate of Kimball High School, Schultz invented a prosthetic knee and foot used by adaptive action sports athletes around the world.
Results: Won a silver medal in snowboardcross and finished fifth in banked slalom.
AARON PIKE
Biathlon, cross-country skiing
Minnesota connection: Park Rapids
Paralympic experience: sixth (2014, 2018 winter; 2012, 2016, 2020 summer)
An athlete with no offseason, Pike entered his third Winter Paralympics only six months after a sixth-place finish in the marathon at last summer's Tokyo Games. He began his career in wheelchair track and field and added snow sports to his racing schedule in 2012. Pike won a silver medal in the long distance biathlon at last month's World Para Snow Sports Championships and had top-10 finishes in three other events. At the 2018 Paralympics, he was sixth in the 15-kilometer biathlon and seventh in the 12.5km biathlon. Pike trains alongside longtime girlfriend Oksana Masters, who won seven medals in Beijing and has 16 total Paralympic medals in cross-country skiing, biathlon, cycling and rowing.
Results: Finished eighth in the sprint biathlon, ninth in individual biathlon, 10th in sprint cross-country, 12th in middle-distance cross-country and 15th in middle-distance biathlon.
SYDNEY PETERSON
Cross-country skiing
Minnesota connection: Lake Elmo
Paralympic experience: first
Peterson was a late addition to the U.S. team after a standout performance at last month's World Para Snow Sports Championships in Lillehammer, Norway. She is so new to the sport that she had to get special permission to race in Beijing, since she had not held a World Para Nordic Skiing license long enough to qualify for the Paralympics. Peterson, 19, won three medals at the world championships — two silvers and a bronze — even though it was only her second international competition. A graduate of Stillwater High School, she is a member of the Nordic ski team at St. Lawrence University.
Results: Won three medals, gold in the mixed relay, silver in the 15km classic and bronze in the freestyle sprint. Finished sixth in the middle-distance race.
MAX NELSON
Cross-country skiing
Minnesota connection: Grant
Paralympic experience: first
Nelson turned 18 on March 5, the first full day of competition at the Paralympics, and was the youngest member of the U.S. Paralympic Nordic ski team. The Mahtomedi High School senior, who is legally blind, began cross-country skiing when he was 7 and is now so fast he requires college skiers to be his guides. As a junior last season, Nelson became the first visually impaired Nordic skier to win an individual high school conference title in Minnesota, capturing the Metro East championship. Relatively new to the world stage, Nelson has competed in World Cup races in Slovenia and Canada.
Results: Finished ninth in the open relay, 13th in the middle-distance race and 14th in the sprint.
