DENVER—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 and found out in a phone call Friday that she is 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.
A dozen Colorado athletes are on the U.S. team for the Paralympic Winter Games March 12-21.
Among them is sled hockey team member Nikko Landeros, a former Berthoud High School wrestler who lost his legs in a car accident in 2007.
Pennington was born with cerebral palsy, a disorder in which the brain and muscles have problems communicating. That can affect her balance and control on the mountain.
She started skiing at Winter Park with The Children’s Hospital Sports Program at age 6, then with the Fort Lewis College ski team after graduating from high school.
“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,” Pennington said.
“When I began racing, it made me realize I have value as a person and an athlete. Once I set my mind to it, I can make it happen,” she said.
Pennington, 31, said this will be her last Paralympics.
