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2006
U.S. Disabled Alpine Ski Team |
| NICK CATANZARITE
A Team/LW-10
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| Ussa Id: 4837993 |
Height: 5-9 ft/
1.73 m |
Weight: 135 lb/
61 kg |
| Birthdate: 5/23/77 |
Birthplace: Mishawauka, IN |
Hometown: Winter Park, CO |
| Years on Team: 4th |
School: Michigan State ‘99 |
Sponsors: Challenged Athletes |
| Equipment: K2, Bolle |
Club: Winter Park NSCD |
WebSite:
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| Highlights |
- First World Cup top-5 in '05
- 6th in SL, 7th in GS at '04 Worlds
- SG silver, DH bronze at '05 nationals
- Four more World Cup top-10s in 2005
- 5th in 2002 Paralympics DH
- Won ‘01 U.S. mono-ski DH title
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| Biography |
Sit-skier Nick Catanzarite was paralyzed below the waist when he crashed - as an able-bodied skier - fore-running a race. It's the way he's picked himself up that's going to make him a mono-skiing champion, according to U.S. coaches.
Update
Catanzarite made (more) major progress during the '05 season, skiing well enough to climb from the C Team to the A Team. He posted his first World Cup top-5, finishing fifth in super G at Kimberley, B.C., and closed the season with his first two nationals medals at The Hartford U.S. championships in Vail. "He definitely had a major breakthrough last year," said Head Coach Kevin Jardine. Ten years after his disabling mishap, U.S. coaches feel Catanzarite is on the verge of becoming a solid three-event racer "and maybe even four-event," Jardine said.
Start-Up
He broke two vertebrae in his back when he went down in what looked like a routine fall before a women’s GS at Winter Park in 1995. When he graduated from college, he decided to try disabled racing thanks to the encouragement of coach Alan Bender, who was Catanzarite’s coach before his accident and had switched to coaching disabled. By his second winter, he won the mono-ski DH title at the 2001 U.S. Championships. He’s got the fire and the determination, coaches say, but Catanzarite just needs experience.
First World Cup
Feb. 1, 2001, at Snowbasin, UT (DNF in DH)
Olympics/Worlds Experience
2004 Worlds – two top-10 finishes in SL and GS; 2002 Paralympics – 5th in DH, DNF in SG
Personal
He majored in philosophy at MSU. Eventually, he might teach, perhaps at a college...He works part-time in the Fraser County Library in Winter Park and has led philosophy discussion groups...Enjoys water skiing, listens to Thievery Corporation...Follows "Da Bears" and Michigan State’s football team...He’s a vegetarian but still eats fish; favorite food is Indian and his own stew – "just chop it up and throw it in"...
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