6 March 2024
The Parasport Polymaths – Mastering multiple sports
Having one sport to master is a task in itself, two or more is where it begins to get tricky.
Plenty of wheelchair curlers have a past in other sports before finding their calling on the sheets. For example, Paralympic and world wheelchair curling championship medallist Ronny Persson won five medals for Sweden in Alpine skiing at the Nagano 1998 and Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Paralympic Games.
Norway’s Geir Arne Skogstad is a two-time world champion in wheelchair curling, but also a world champion in para ice hockey, adding a silver medal in Salt Lake City Paralympics.
Italian Angela Menardi was a cross-country skier in the 1992 Paralympics in Albertville and Latvian lead Ieva Melle qualified for the Rio 2016 Paralympics in archery. Scotland’s Jo Butterfield was an esteemed club thrower in the athletics world, winning the Paralympic gold medal at Rio 2016 before switching to curling last year, where she won a bronze medal on her world championship debut.
While all these athletes are examples of transitioning to new sports, a select few are able to keep up a high level of performance simultaneously.
Peter Zatko has been a staple in the Slovakian national team for many years now, but has competed in football, ice hockey, tennis and most importantly, golf.
In an interview with Takurcitee, he spoke about his summer passion. He is a member of the Slovak Golf Association for the Handicapped, and first competed in tournaments in 2021.
“As far as possible, they also help us in the Slovak Golf Association to develop this beautiful sport and bring it to the fore,” said Zatko.
“I believe that soon paragolf will become a Paralympic sport.
“I think that both sports [curling and golf] require a momentary disposition, determination, physical and mental preparation, so that a person can return to his game even if he does not succeed in throwing a stone or hitting the ball.”
Much like Zatko, wheelchair curling Paralympic bronze medallist and two-time world silver medallist Jon Thurston is a sports addict, exercising a lot in his time off the ice. For fitness he trains in boxing and jujitsu, for thrill-seeking fun and scenery, he enjoys mountain biking; and for summer competition, he features in adaptive water skiing.
From sliding on ice to sliding on water
He has already represented Canada at two world championships in slalom and trick skiing, a sport he got into through a physio assistant in his hometown, who organised a trial day in Peterborough. The freedom was like nothing he had felt before.
“You could feel the ski and get on the water and enjoy a little bit of adrenaline going fast,” said Thurston.
“I just tried it that summer and nothing came out of it, then I finished curling the next season and there was an email from the [adaptive water skiing] national team head coach about doing a development camp down in Florida, if anybody was interested to pass on their contacts so I got a hold of him.
“The next day I had tickets to fly down to Florida the next week and that was a great way to get into the sport.”
It was a revelation for Thurston, who was spoiled for equipment choices at the camp, one of the great barriers to participation in disability sport. Soon, he was fine-tuning his newfound skill.
“We were there for a week skiing and it took me four days of eating water to just learn how to get up on my own independently, but once I got it, it really helped because now I could go home and ski on my own or with friends,” he added.
“I’ve really dialled in the last couple of years and had a lot of water time and really progressed my skiing, so I’ve seen enjoyment from that just setting goals and trying to achieve them.
“It’s a feeling that you don’t get a lot of the time being in a chair, but when you’re on the water you’re on your ski and you kind of initiate the turns and you’ve got to follow the boat but other than that, there’s a lot of freedom on the water.”
So far, Thurston has excelled, winning a world silver medal after claiming his first Canadian title.
Despite the unpredictable nature of water skiing, it acts as injury prevention for him. In addition to the front muscles used in curling, his skiing requires back strength, greatly improving his conditioning. Most of all, the balance of activity all year round has helped him socially.
“It’s been amazing because I can have a summer and a winter sport,” he said.
“I’ve met a lot of great people through both sports and it’s given me a goal to strive for.
“I love being active so it’s helped me both probably mentally as well as physically.
“It’s important to be chasing your passion — if you can be doing that everyday then it’s a good day.”
Whether on land, water or ice, Thurston is an example of thriving as an athlete and a person because of sport.
Written by feature writer Michael Houston
Engage with the World Curling Federation during the SD Biosensor World Wheelchair Curling Championship 2024 on TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook, and Weibo and by searching the hashtags #WWhCC and #wheelchaircurling
