Winter Park skier Hannah Pennington thought her dreams of going to the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver were over when, one day about a year ago, she couldn’t stand.
Pennington, who has cerebral palsy, got off crutches in July, then rehabbed her way back to another Olympic appearance on the U.S. team for giant slalom and slalom in the standing class.
“All I could do was smile and say, ‘Oh, my God, thank you!’ ” Pennington said Monday. She leaves for Vancouver on Sunday for her third Paralympics.
“Ski racing has developed me as a person. Living with a disability is difficult. When I skied with Children’s Hospital, I had new freedoms I didn’t realize. I could push it,” the 31-year-old Pennington said.
Going to Vancouver
A dozen Colorado athletes are on the U.S. team for the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver from March 12-21:
Sled hockey
Nikko Landeros, Berthoud
Alpine skiing, sitting
Heath Calhoun, Aspen
Nick Catanzarite, Winter Park
Gerald Hayden, Winter Park
Luba Lowery, Denver
Alpine skiing, standing
Ralph Green, Vail
Ian Jansing, Winter Park
George Sansonetis, Fraser
Brad Washburn, Winter Park
Allison Jones, Colorado Spring
Hannah Pennington, Winter Park
Cross country skiing, sitting
Monica Bascio, Evergreen
