{"id":794276,"date":"2019-03-28T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/skiing-bonds-shiffrin-paralympian-who-overcame-cancer\/"},"modified":"2019-03-28T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-03-29T00:00:00","slug":"skiing-bonds-shiffrin-paralympian-who-overcame-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/skiing-bonds-shiffrin-paralympian-who-overcame-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Skiing bonds Shiffrin, Paralympian who overcame cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery\" readability=\"6.8971751412429\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-363682-381\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kathleen Walsh \/ AP File Photo | Kathleen Walsh | Thomas Walsh and Mikaela Shiffrin pose in Sochi, Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"8.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c.jpg\" alt=\"Thomas Walsh and Mikaela Shiffrin pose in Sochi, Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"12\">\n<p><strong>Thomas Walsh and Mikaela Shiffrin pose in Sochi, Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.<\/strong><br \/>Kathleen Walsh \/ AP File Photo | Kathleen Walsh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Rick Bowmer \/ AP File Photo | AP | United States Olympic Winter Games Paralympic Alpine skier Thomas Walsh poses for a portrait at the 2017 Team USA Media Summit, in Park City, Utah in September 2017. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-1.jpg\" alt=\"United States Olympic Winter Games Paralympic Alpine skier Thomas Walsh poses for a portrait at the 2017 Team USA Media Summit, in Park City, Utah in September 2017. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>United States Olympic Winter Games Paralympic Alpine skier Thomas Walsh poses for a portrait at the 2017 Team USA Media Summit, in Park City, Utah in September 2017. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.<\/strong><br \/>Rick Bowmer \/ AP File Photo | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Rick Bowmer \/ AP File Photo | AP | United States Olympic Winter Games Paralympic Alpine skier Thomas Walsh poses for a portrait at the 2017 Team USA Media Summit, in Park City, Utah. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"9\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-2.jpg\" alt=\"United States Olympic Winter Games Paralympic Alpine skier Thomas Walsh poses for a portrait at the 2017 Team USA Media Summit, in Park City, Utah. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>United States Olympic Winter Games Paralympic Alpine skier Thomas Walsh poses for a portrait at the 2017 Team USA Media Summit, in Park City, Utah. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the ranks as a Paralympian.<\/strong><br \/>Rick Bowmer \/ AP File Photo | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Alessandro Trovati \/ AP | AP | Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women's World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra on March 17.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-3.jpg\" alt=\"Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women's World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra on March 17.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women&#8217;s World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra on March 17.<\/strong><br \/>Alessandro Trovati \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Alessandro Trovati \/ AP | AP | Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women's World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski finals in Soldeu, Andorra earlier this month.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-4.jpg\" alt=\"Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women's World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski finals in Soldeu, Andorra earlier this month.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women&#8217;s World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski finals in Soldeu, Andorra earlier this month.<\/strong><br \/>Alessandro Trovati \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Gabriele Facciotti \/ AP | AP | Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women's World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra earlier this month.\" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\" readability=\"7\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/03\/CORRECTION_Fast_Friends_Skiing_30166-2592c-5.jpg\" alt=\"Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women's World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra earlier this month.\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"9\">\n<p><strong>Mikaela Shiffrin holds the women&#8217;s World Cup overall trophy at the alpine ski World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra earlier this month.<\/strong><br \/>Gabriele Facciotti \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/skiing-bonds-shiffrin-paralympian-who-overcame-cancer\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/skiing-bonds-shiffrin-paralympian-who-overcame-cancer\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ten years ago, Mikaela Shiffrin visited a friend and fellow ski racer in the hospital who was diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Thomas Walsh could barely sit up or eat and later had parts of his pelvis and lung removed due to the tumors. Shiffrin grew up skiing with Walsh, the two sharing a similar instructor in Shiffrin\u2019s mom and an equally similar passion for the slopes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">His condition hit Shiffrin hard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Zip forward to the present: Walsh is a rising Paralympian fresh off a season in which he captured the overall World Cup slalom title \u2014 just like Shiffrin \u2014 and earned two bronze medals at the world Para Alpine championships.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">His success now melts the two-time Olympic champion\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cHe has that kind of \u2018zest-for-life\u2019 that is very rare, very contagious, and cannot be stifled. Not even by cancer,\u201d said the 24-year-old Shiffrin, who wrapped up a season in which she won 17 World Cup races and her third straight overall title. \u201cThomas was always a much better athlete than I was. He was literally good at everything. I mean, everything. Skiing, soccer, a triathlon, dancing, acting, singing, school \u2014 you name it. He did it all and he was always the best.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Cancer just forced him to take a slight detour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Growing up in Vail, he naturally took to the mountains. Walsh met Shiffrin in kindergarten and they became teammates on Ski Club Vail. He and Shiffrin learned to ski under Shiffrin\u2019s mom, Eileen. He was talented, too, and was accepted into the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont, which has produced such notable racers as Daron Rahlves and AJ Kitt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">About then, Walsh noticed something was wrong. An accomplished triathlete at the time, it bothered him to sit on his bike. Then, to sit in regular chairs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">On May 28, 2009, Walsh was diagnosed with Ewing\u2019s sarcoma, a cancerous tumor that grows in the bones or in the tissue around bones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It was Stage 4. The disease started in his pelvis and spread to his lungs. He began chemo treatments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cUp to that point in my life, I had never really known anybody with cancer,\u201d said the 24-year-old Walsh, who captured a giant slalom national crown this week at the U.S. Paralympic Alpine championships in Winter Park. \u201cI very quickly learned much more than I wanted to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">That October, he underwent a resection that removed key bones from his pelvis. There went his ski racing career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Or so he thought.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAs with every traumatic event, it takes a little minute for it to settle in \u2014 for the bigger picture to come into play,\u201d Walsh said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Three months later, he convinced his doctor to allow him to hit the slopes. Just a few turns on the beginner\u2019s hill.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cEmotionally, it was way impactful,\u201d said Walsh, who also suffers from lymphedema, a progressive disease that causes his leg to swell. \u201cIt was an emotional rescue where I said skiing is what I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">But he didn\u2019t know anything about the Paralympic movement. Not yet, anyway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">After dealing with cancer treatments for a year, he attended Green Mountain Valley where he returned to racing and got more involved in theater. He starred in the production of \u201cAnything Goes,\u201d with Shiffrin showing up in the audience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThere was a whole tap-dancing scene and he was front and center, tapping like crazy and singing at the top of his lungs, and I was just bawling in the audience because I just felt like he was shining like a star,\u201d recalled Shiffrin, who was attending nearby Burke Mountain Academy. \u201cIt was a gift just to be able to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The friends also attended a \u201cski-academy\u201d prom together in 2013.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWhen I was sick, we had a pact that we\u2019d go to prom together,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cIt was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Turns out, he\u2019s a skillful teacher, too, as he turned the graceful slalom artist into a confident dancer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cI was so shy and didn\u2019t want to dance,\u201d Shiffrin said. \u201cYou could tell he was the best dancer in the room. \u2026 I was baffled because I actually looked like I kind of knew what I was doing. That\u2019s the kind of stuff that Thomas is able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Following high school, Walsh attended Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia to study performing arts. It also provided a test: To see if he would miss the thrill of ski racing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He did.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">About that time, he and his mom, Kathleen, learned he could be classified as a disabled ski racer because of his pelvic resection. So he embarked on a path to become a Paralympian .<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This only sharpened his determination: Using his Make-A-Wish request, Walsh attended the 2014 Sochi Games and was there when Shiffrin won the slalom gold medal. He posed for pictures with her and imagined that maybe one day he could have a similar moment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Like Shiffrin, his specialties are the slalom and giant slalom. And, like Shiffrin, he\u2019s also incorporating the super-G. His idols include Austrian standout Marcel Hirscher, American Steven Nyman and, of course, Shiffrin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">A year ago, Walsh took fifth in the slalom and seventh in the giant slalom at the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Now, he\u2019s setting his sights on the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">In his corner? Shiffrin, of course.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThomas and the way his life and his story have evolved, and the role that he now played in the Paralympic family and as one of the top athletes competing, I realize that it is the most inspirational comeback story I have ever witnessed,\u201d Shiffrin said. \u201cAnd even though that was never the intention, it is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports\/skiing-bonds-shiffrin-paralympian-who-overcame-cancer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Walsh and Mikaela Shiffrin pose in Sochi, Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Ten years ago, ski racer Thomas Walsh was diagnosed with cancer that ended up taking parts of his pelvis. By his side that day was Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin. She remains one of his biggest fans as Walsh rises through the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-794276","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-14 04:31:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}