About Alana
Alana Nichols is a two-sport phenomenon in wheelchair basketball and alpine skiing. She grew up in Farmington, N.M., and was an avid snowboarder throughout her youth. In 2002, however, Nichols landed back-first on a rock while attempting a backflip on her snowboard. The injury caused her to be paralyzed from the waist down. Nichols didn’t let her athletic career stop there, though, as she began playing wheelchair basketball just two years later. Her talent in the sport ultimately took her to the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, where she and Team USA earned gold. Shortly after the Beijing Games, Nichols moved to Colorado and picked up adaptive alpine skiing through the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park. At the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Games, Nichols earned two gold medals, one silver and one bronze in alpine skiing events, becoming the first female athlete in history to win gold medals in both the summer and winter Paralympic Games.
credit: http://www.teamusa.org/usa-canoe-kayak/athletes/Alana-Nichols
