The 2022 Paralympic Winter Games will run from March 4-13, and each day, NBCOlympics.com will recap the biggest stories that happened overnight. Here's what you may have missed from the third day of Paralympic competition.
Schultz's ingenuity and Huckaby's persistence pay off in snowboard cross
Four snowboard cross events kicked off the Para snowboard program in Beijing, and Americans made the podium in three of them.
Mike Schultz, the defending gold medalist in the LL1 classification and founder of prosthetics company BioDapt, rode his patented prosthetic leg to silver in a dramatic final. The gold medalist, Tyler Turner of Canada, was one of 25 other Paralympians in Beijing who use products made by Schultz’s company.
"I'm pumped I could keep up with them and I'm even more pumped that I've created the equipment that is helping us to progress the sport,” Schultz said.
Teammate Garrett Geros, a 22-year-old Paralympic rookie, also took silver, finishing second in the men’s LL2 classification behind Finland's Matti Suur-Hamari.
In the lone women’s classification, LL2, American Brenna Huckaby recovered from a collision in the final to take bronze for her third Paralympic medal. Her first two, both gold, came in 2018 in the since-removed LL1 classification.
Huckaby, who has an above-the-knee amputation, had to file an injunction just to be allowed to compete at a disadvantage against athletes with below-the-knee impairments in Beijing.
“I would rather compete at a disadvantage than not compete at all,” she reiterated after the race.
Frenchwoman Cecile Hernandez, another rider of the LL1 classification whose Beijing status was previously in doubt, won gold, giving her the first Paralympic title of her career at age 47.
Adicoff wins long distance silver behind ageless McKeever
Even at age 42, nobody could touch Brian McKeever in the men’s cross-country skiing 20km vision impaired race. The six-time Paralympian, along with guide Russell Kennedy, took the win by more than three minutes for McKeever’s 18th Paralympic medal and 14th gold.
McKeever, who was already the most decorated man in cross-country skiing at the Paralympics, plans to retire after the Games.
The race for second was won by American Jake Adicoff with guide Sam Wood for Adicoff’s second career Paralympic silver medal.
In an event that typically features plenty of verbal communication between athlete and guide, the pair utilized their signature nonverbal method to reach the podium.
“It’s a lot of looking over my shoulder and watching [Jake] ski,” Wood said.
Adicoff’s compatriot Sydney Peterson also took silver in the women’s 15km standing race. The 20-year-old rookie was a late add to the U.S. team after a three-medal performance at January’s world championships and said that the Paralympics weren't even on her radar until just a few months ago.
U.S. keeps hopes alive with huge comeback win in wheelchair curling
In a consequential day for the U.S. wheelchair curling team, the Americans lost to Canada but came back and stunned Norway in a must-win game later on to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The loss to Canada dropped Team USA's record to 1-3 in round-robin play, and another defeat would have put the U.S. in a huge hole in the standings.
It appeared that the U.S might be headed for another defeat with Norway taking a 5-2 lead after six ends, but the Americans were able to put two points on the board in the seventh to make it a 5-4 game. Although the hammer went back to Norway, a well-played end put the U.S. in position to steal multiple points and forced Norway to attempt a difficult shot with their final stone. The Norwegians attempted a double take-out, hoping to hold the U.S. to just one point and send the game to extra ends, but the shot was unsuccessful, and the U.S. was able to steal two points and win the game 6-5.
The U.S., now sitting in a much better position in the standings, is currently tied with Norway for eighth place but is just one game out of a playoff spot. There are 11 teams in the tournament, and only the top four at the end of round-robin play will advance to the knockout rounds.
Up next for Team USA is a matchup with defending gold medalists China.
Walsh narrowly misses Alpine skiing podium
American Thomas Walsh replicated his finish from January's world championships — a fourth-place result — in the super combined, giving Team USA its best result of the day in the Alpine skiing events. Walsh, competing in the men's standing classification, was in eighth place after his super-G run but was able to move up the leaderboard thanks to a strong slalom run later in the day. The win went to France's Arthur Bauchet, who earned his second gold medal of these Paralympic Games.
In other super combined events, Norway's Jesper Pederson (men's sitting) and Slovakia's Henrieta Farkasova (women's visually impaired) also won their second gold medals in Beijing.
Japan's Momoka Muraoka, the only athlete to sweep the downhill and super-G titles this weekend, was relegated to the silver medal as Germany's Anna-Lena Forster defended her Paralympic gold in the women's sitting classification.
FULL REPLAY: Super-G Run | Slalom Run