BEIJING, China — Colorado skier Thomas Walsh won the United States' first alpine skiing medal of the 2022 Winter Paralympics in giant slalom on Thursday.
Walsh, of Vail, 27, took silver in the standing category, just 0.04 seconds behind gold medalist Santeri Kiiveri of Finland. The bronze went to Arthur Bauchet of France.
> Video above from Aug. 2021: Mikaela Shiffrin and Thomas Walsh dance challenge gets people moving while having fun.
It was Walsh's first medal, after he just missed the podium in the super combined earlier in the Games. At the 2018 Pyeonchang Games, he finished seventh in giant slalom.
Walsh was leading the field after the first run. He lost the lead midway through the second run before making up some time, but it wasn't enough at the finish line to beat Kiiveri.
"I didn't see the green light which meant gold, but I saw a 0.04, and that was good enough for me to know that I got second," Walsh said, according to NBC Olympics. "Through my life experiences, surviving pediatric cancer to dealing with COVID days before I was supposed to be at the Paralympics, I'm just lucky to be able to compete and earning a medal is only a bonus."
Walsh was a childhood friend of another Colorado skier, Mikaela Shiffrin, and was a gifted youth racer until his diagnosis in 2009, according to NBC. After watching Shiffrin compete at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, he started working toward a return to racing.
Team USA flag bearer Tyler Carter, of Colorado Springs, finished in 33rd in the giant slalom standing category in what was his last Paralympic event.
In the sitting category for giant slalom, four-time Paralympian Jasmin Bambur, of Granby, finished in 16th.
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