Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Canadian Paralympian Tyler Mosher while he was training up at Big White in the Kelowna (interior of BC).
Here are a few things he said:
-His attitude is to be passionate and have fun. This is especially important as he is training all the time. He wants to go out and enjoy snowboarding.
-He’s doing everything he can to have the best chance at the Olympics.
-In terms of inspiration – Terry Fox inspires him and Rick Hansen.
-He feels lucky to live in Canada where we have so many opportunities to do what it is we want to do.
-He wants to leave a legacy for the kids. He believes we have a responsibility to make the world a better place, everyday.
-He’s grateful for the support he receives and has gone a step further to create a personal team to position himself to succeed.
– He competes Mar 14th and it’s best 2 out of 3 runs. It’s “all about being the fastest on the day.”
– We talked about the declaration for “2015 – The Year of Women in Sport.” He said he realizes there’s inequality and we want to create equal opportunity in sports. Women have been at the forefront making sure parity is there. He thinks it’s time to celebrate the parity that’s here in Canada and 2015 is a good time to do it.
-His own declaration? He declares he will take every opportunity he can to participate and succeed.
Take a moment to understand what Tyler faces as a Paralympian snowboarder.
This week he leaves for Colorado then Europe to compete in World Cups prior to the 2014 Sochi Paralympics. He competes March 14th. Despite his intense schedule he made time to talk.
As background, Tyler was left an incomplete paraplegic after a snowboarding accident Dec 30, 2001. He was told he would not be able to walk and would need a wheelchair. After rehabilitating himself he trained to cross-country ski and made the 2010 Parlympic Games at Whistler. He then proposed that adaptive snowboarding be added to the Paralympic agenda and it was accepted for the 2014 Games. Making the Canadian team and competing internationally has been challenging yet he is driven to compete and compete well in Sochi in snowboarding.
To watch Tyler snowboarding is an experience. Here is video footage from a segment on Shaw TV. It’s hard to believe he can snowboard while being considered a paraplegic.
To understand more about how intense Tyler’s preparations are, read these excerpts from this article in the Whistler Question.
“While Mosher said he understands that those courses help build excitement for the sport — “it’s about creating an exciting show,” he said — but they are also a challenge for his specific disability. He can’t quickly readjust his stance on landing, and as a result has to make every jump perfectly.
That led to the second major setback — a string of injuries that kept him off the snow for most of last season. In January he broke his left shoulder, crashing so hard that the muscle pulled away a piece of bone. In March, at the last World Cup races in Big White, Mosher crashed again, fracturing a vertebrae before crawling across the finish line. The recovery window for that injury was six months.
Despite the setbacks, Mosher remains determined to contend for gold, or at least a podium for Canada. He’s invested heavily in this season by hiring private coaches, purchasing new equipment and travelling to Europe to train for the Games.
“I have to make up three per cent (time differential) to be in the game against the other guys, who are all great athletes. And most of them are young — I’m 41 now,” he said.
“I think I can comfortably come fourth or fifth by playing it safe in every World Cup, but to get on the podium I have to put everything on the line. Either it’s going to work or I’m going to wipe out.” ”
Thanks for reading!
~Linda