Paralympian Jamie Stanton Goes For Alpine Gold In Pyeongchang

ROCHESTER, MI – As a youngster growing up in southeast Michigan, Jamie Stanton played all the sports. There was hockey and golf, swimming and tennis. And, of course, skiing. They all came naturally to him, but skiing was especially good to him.

"Skiing is the thing I absolutely love," says Stanton, 23, in an interview with Patch. "When I’m on the mountain, it’s about me and the mountain. I don't have to pay attention to other things going on in the world."

The world, though, will be paying attention to Stanton this week. The 2012 graduate of Rochester Adams High School is representing the United States in the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games that officially kicked off on Friday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

As a member of the U.S. Ski Team, he will participate in four events: Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G and Super Combined. Of his events, the Super-G will be first on Sunday, March 11. His strongest event, he says, is the slalom, which will be run on Wednesday, March 14. (If you intend to follow the events in real-time, here's the schedule. And, keep in mind, the events are 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time.)

'Always full throttle'

But, first, more about what Stanton did to get to Pyeongchang. He was born with fibular hemimelia, a growth deficiency of the fibula. At 6 months old, his right leg was amputated below the knee. By the age of 1, he was fitted with a prosthetic leg. He grew up and considered himself an "able-bodied" kid, playing normal sports with other kids, said his mother, Rae Stanton.

"Jamie just always went full throttle," she tells Patch. "He's always had a lot of energy and a positive attitude." He discovered skiing as a youngster on a family trip to Boyne Highlands, his mother said. "He went out there and just loved being outdoors in the snow."

As he grew older, Jamie Stanton narrowed his athletic interests, pursuing skiing. He was introduced to paralympic sports in 2011, when a friend convinced him to enter the Michigan Adaptive Sports State Championships ski races. After winning back-to-back titles at the state championships, he moved onto national and international competition.

Stanton made his Paralympic debut in 2014 in Sochi, where he finished sixth in the Super-G, 13th in the Super Combined and 22nd in the Slalom. He's coming into this year's Paralympics primed, though. He knows the slopes – in 2017, on the very same slope in South Korea as this year's Games, he won a test event slalom race. And, in January, he won a World Cup slalom event in Veysonnaz, Switzerland. (See the video embedded below.)

"I’m sure he will go (to South Korea) with some confidence," says Kevin Jardine, director of U.S. Paralympics Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding in an interview with Patch. He said that Stanton, coming off the win last month and the victory at the test event in 2017, has set himself up for successful runs at medals in Pyeongchang.

Stanton has trained hard in the gym and on the slopers for the Games – and done that while juggling studies as a finance student at the University of Denver, Jardine said. Stanton also is a student of the sport of skiing, he studies the slopes and watches events to figure out what will work best for him.

"I definitely have high hopes for him," Jardine tells Patch. "Ski racing is tough, though. It depends on how he skis, the conditions and how he's doing that day."

Looking for 'hardware'

Just a few days before departing from his training home in Aspen, Colorado, Stanton talked with Patch and shared his thoughts on the Paralympic Games. During a half-hour interview, he spoke with passion about his sport and his preparations for these Games.

He will race in four of the five alpine events – the Downhill event is the only one he won't partake in. That makes sense: He's a skier from the Midwest, where slopes tend be shorter. He's also a more technical skier, a quality that benefits athletes in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events.

"My skiing is starting to peak at the right time," Stanton says. "I feel like I have a chance to walk out of there with some hardware."

These Games, though, hold a melancholy note for Stanton – they likely will be his last. He graduated from the University of Denver in November and is slated to start his finance career in July, when he will go to work as an analyst on Wall Street.

"I've had my fun," Stanton tells Patch. "So I think I'll be ready to grow up and go to work."

But not for another couple of weeks, anyway. This Paralympic star from southeast Michigan has work to do. Competing as an amputee only seems to have strengthen his resolve to win, both on the slopes and in his career.

"It's been a blessing in disguise," says Stanton of his leg. "It's just been a part of who I am. There is really nothing I can't do."

File photo by Joe Kusumoto Photography