Meet 19-year-old US Paralympic skier who brought home huge medal haul in debut
Meet 19-year-old US Paralympic skier who brought home huge medal haul in debut
Jordan Smitherman, Special to USA TODAY SportsSun, March 15, 2026 at 8:05 PM UTC
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Meet 19-year-old US Paralympic skier who brought home huge medal haul in debut
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – Many Para athletes don’t discover the Paralympics until later in life. That is not the case for Audrey Crowley.
Born without her lower right arm, she watched Paralympic skiing highlights with her dad as a child to see how they did it differently from able-bodied skiers.
And now Crowley, 19 years old, has made her debut at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, where she collected three top 10 finishes, including the Alpine combined (fifth), downhill (sixth) and super-G (eighth).
Skiing in Cortina is a moment that she has looked forward to her entire life.
“This is a really big opportunity to show everyone what I'm capable of, what I've been working towards,” Crowley said.
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See the best photos from the 2026 Winter Paralympics starting with Lauren Parker of Team Australia participating in training ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium on March 5, 2026 in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Crowley grew up in Colorado skiing with her family. It was a family affair as her older sister Ava skied competitively alongside Crowley until she graduated high school to attend the University of Colorado Boulder.
Crowley’s high school, Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy, helped her achieve her dreams because the schedule catered to elite skiers training for international competition. The decision paid off as in her international debut, she won bronze in the giant slalom at the 2025 FIS Para Alpine World Ski Championships.
Alpine skiing is not for the faint of heart and is one of the most dangerous sports in which to compete. But for Crowley the danger is the draw.
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“I think it's kind of the fear that does keep you going and the fact that every day is a new challenge and a new exciting version of the sport,” Crowley said.
Each course brings new challenges, but for Crowley, the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center is a familiar one as it’s where she won her bronze world championship medal. She was hoping the familiarity could bring an advantage.
“I already know the track, I know what lift to take when I go up. I have a sense for what the snow is going to feel like,” Crowley said.
Crowley credits her parents with a lot of her success. She was born in Ausblick, Wisconsin, but her family moved to Eagle, Colorado, so she could pursue alpine skiing at a serious level.
“That was all of us really committing to this goal ... taking it into our own hands and putting ourselves into the best possible situation for skiing,” Crowley said.
As she competed in Cortina during her first Paralympics, she sought to find a level of calm while still loving what she does on the biggest stage yet.
“Finding that balance for me is what I do, and just remembering that whatever happens, I gave it my best, and my coaches and everyone will see that,” Crowley said.
Jordan Smitherman is a reporter for the Paralympics Project, a partnership between USA TODAY Network and the College of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA's Audrey Crowley took home three medals in Paralympic Games debut
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