American double- leg amputee off to Dancing with the Stars
SOCHI — American para-snowboarder Amy Purdy has been pulling double- duty this week at the Paralympic Games.
The 34- year- old double- leg amputee finished third in Friday’s snowboardcross as her sport made its Paralympic debut.
Earlier in the week, she was alternating on- snow training with dance training for her appearance on the upcoming season of TV’s Dancing with the Stars.
Her partner on the show, Derek Hough, even flew over to Russia to practise their routines. The pair fly to Los Angeles Saturday with the show set to have its season premiere on Monday.
“It’s been amazing dancing and snowboarding,” said Purdy. “We have a lot of downtime here, so it’s good to do something different beyond ( competition). We’ve been dancing in Rosa Khutor at a hall down there.”
Purdy says she’s delighted to be able to represent athletes with a disability on the show.
“It allows us to focus on ability. We all have different levels of abilities, whether you’re missing a leg or not. I want to represent people who questioned what they were capable of.”
UP FOR AWARD: Two Canadians, wheelchair curler Sonja Gaudet and visually impaired cross country skier Brian McKeever, are among the six shortlist nominees for the Whang Youn Dai Achievement Award.
It is presented at every Paralympic Games for outstanding performances and overcoming adversity.
It is named after a doctor who devoted her life to furthering Paralympic ideals.
Gaudet won gold in 2006 and 2010, and McKeever is a nine- time Paralympic gold medallist.
Dutch snowboarder Bibian Mentel- Spee, Australian standing skier Toby Kane and two Russians, sit- skier Roman Petushkov and visuallyimpaired skier Mikhalina Lysova have also been nominated. QUOTABLE: “All Russian sportsmen train harder than sportsmen from other countries.”
— Sit- skier Roman Petushkov after winning gold in the men’s biathlon 15K. Hard to argue given the Russians have 64 medals, including 25 gold. The Ukraine is a distant second with 20 medals. Canada is tied for fourth overall with 11, including three gold.