This year, six sports are featured at the Milano Cortino Paralympic Games: Para Alpine Skiing, Para Biathlon, Para Cross-Country Skiing, Para Ice Hockey, Para Snowboard and Wheelchair Curling. The Games start March 6, and the competitions are held for two weeks. It’s very exciting to watch individuals with both upper and lower limb differences compete with other Paralympians.

One of our patients, Dani Aravich, has competed in the 2020 and 2022 Paralympics and has qualified for Milano Cortino! Dani will be competing in Para Nordic Skiing. Dani has a congenital limb difference – she’s missing her left arm below her elbow. According to her Team USA Profile, her nickname is the “Biathlon Bandit.”

Here’s video of Dani introducing herself:

When you see her race, she’ll only be using one pole. This is because only Paralympians with lower limb differences are allowed to use a prosthesis during the Games. Sometimes athletes will train using a prosthesis to minimize overuse symptoms, like our patient Lizzi Smith, winner of three Summer Paralympic Medals, who has an activity-specific device she uses in the pool:

It’s understandable that the Paralympic Committee doesn’t want anyone to have an unfair advantage by using their upper limb prosthesis during competition. It’s too bad though, that upper limb prostheses get less screentime than their lower limb counterparts, meaning viewers are less aware of all the amazing upper limb technology that’s now available. There’s also the possibility of overuse symptoms that may crop up in athletes who aren’t able to balance their bodies during competition.

The Games are still a great watch and it’s exciting to read about everyone’s success stories. In addition to watching our patient Dani, we’ll be keeping an eye out for Germany’s 16-time Paralympic champion, Gerd Schoenfelder. He’ll be at the Games sharing his knowledge of Para alpine skiing. When he was 21 years old, Gerd lost his right arm above the shoulder and four fingers on his left hand. He had a toe-to-hand transfer on his left side so he could grip things with his left hand, be independent, and go on to become the most successful winter Paralympic athlete of all time!

The Paralympic Games are available on NBC, the USA Network and streaming on Peacock. We hope you’ll join us in watching them! If you have any comments, please leave them below.

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