Michael Kear was thrilled to receive two gold medals (Slalom and Giant Slalom) in the Huntsman Cup World Para Alpine Ski Race at Park City, Utah. The Huntsman Cup focuses on providing the opportunity to adaptive athletes who are hopefuls for future Paralympic games in 2022 and beyond. This achievement qualifies Michael and his guide Louise to start World Cup races.
The visually impaired skier said “The last four years have been so incredibly tough, so standing on the top of the podium with a new best points score just feels incredible.”
Before hitting the slopes Michael said “We’ve had a great couple of weeks training leading up to these races with Rocky Mountain Adaptive and our slalom has gone from almost giving up to hitting the gas pedal and even cross blocking. We’re really excited to translate this into the race environment and show everyone what we can do. It’s also the last race in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic qualification period so keep your fingers crossed.”
It was Michael’s birthday on the 8th February so to win gold on that day was the best thing to happen.
He said “Some birthday present! 
We’re very happy to say we got GOLD in the Giant Slalom North Amercia race here in Park City today. We also achieved a incredible personal best points score 
“
Get Kids Going! have supported Michael for many years and thanks to the fundraising efforts of all our wonderful runners, cyclists, walkers, joggers and all fundraisers, are pleased to support Michael with another sports grant.
Michael said “Thank you to everyone for your support over the last 4 years. We wouldn’t have got here without every single one of you 
“
He continued: “We really pushed ourselves in the Giant Slalom, especially down some quite steep sections of piste. We’ve known it’s been coming together for a while but been unable to prove it due to covid-19, so managing to do it here and get that new PB of 93.17 felt like a victory beyond the two gold medals we earned
“In the slalom, the discipline I struggle with the most due to my eyesight, I was NERVOUS 
But we took it calm and steady the first run, which gave me confidence to finish the other three.”
“For the first time in what must be 3 years I finished a slalom race 
and brought home another two gold medals. We managed to get another PB of 150 in the slalom but we know with more training we can do even better than that The most amazing thing is that we can now start World Cup races, which we’ve been pushing to do for the last four years. Time to step it up and prove ourselves on the world stage as well 
” said Michael.
Here’s hoping Michael’s successes spur him on for even more medals. Plus we hope that all of our athletes get selected for the Winter Paralympics team and World Cup events.