Figure skaters with disabilities seek a place in the Paralympic spotlight

"It had just never crossed my mind because it is probably one of the last sports you think about for somebody with a physical disability. Even if you are quote-unquote able bodied, it's still dangerous, and so it just never really occurred to me. But when they asked, I was like, This is amazing."

"Learning to skate meant Reid, who uses a prosthetic right leg after a boating accident at 15, had to find ways to train her hip muscles to do the jobs other skaters' knees and ankles do. Her prosthetist developed a leg that would let her glide across the ice. Every day, every week it would be a new prototype which meant all the pressure points were different, and I basically was having to start over again."

"There was a very large period where we just thought, Maybe this just isn't going to work. Maybe this is a bit of a step too far, and then this amazing thing happened. After 10 weeks of being really bad, my brain just kind of kicked into gear."

Stef Reid, a three-time Paralympic medalist in track and field, has transitioned to figure skating despite initially considering it impossible for someone with a physical disability. After losing her right leg in a boating accident at age 15, Reid uses a prosthetic limb. When invited to compete on the celebrity skating show Dancing On Ice in 2022, she accepted the challenge. Her prosthetist developed custom prosthetic legs with specialized blades to enable ice skating, requiring numerous prototypes and adjustments. After ten weeks of difficult training, Reid's body adapted, and she advanced to the quarterfinals. Her journey represents part of a broader movement to include figure skating in the Paralympic program, addressing a significant gap in Winter Paralympics sports and challenging conventional ideas about disability and athletic capability.

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