Kimberley native and former gold-medal Paralympian Josh Dueck will be inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame on May 31.
The Bulletin followed up with Dueck on his most recent achievement, his past, and where he is headed now.
“When I first found out [about the Hall of Fame] I was a little overwhelmed to be honest,” said Dueck. “Now that it’s starting to sink in the excitement is building. I would compare it to a Master’s Degree in sport. You know, you put a lot of time and energy into something and it feels pretty great. I also think it’s a great stepping stone for my plans moving forward. It’s a big deal.”
Dueck learned to ski in Kimberley at the age of 13 and eventually went on as head coach of the Silver Star Freestyle Ski Club in Vernon. While preparing students for the 2004 Canadian Junior Nationals, Dueck went too fast on a demonstration jump and overshot the landing of the hill, resulting in a life-altering injury. At the age of 23 he was paralyzed from the waist down.
Dueck says that despite the injury, he knew right away that he would be back on the ski hill. He has since developed a distinguishable career as a para-athlete competing in events such as the 2009 World Cup, the 2010 and 2014 Olympics, and becoming the first person to perform a back-flip on a sit-ski.
Some of his personal highlights include placing first in the 2009 World Championships.
“The World Champs were my first time really competing on a world-scale,” said Dueck, who also competed at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics where he was a silver medalist.
“Competing on home soil was pretty incredible,” he said of Vancouver.
In 2011, Dueck competed at the 2011 X Games where he placed first.
“It was super rad to be a part of something fully integrated with so many different athletes,” he said.
2012 was when Dueck became the first person to complete a back-flip on a sit ski and in 2014 he competed at the Paralympic Games in Sochi where he had a double medal performance earning him a gold in Super Combined and silver in downhill.
Dueck’s first real breakthrough however, he says, was in Kimberley in 2007 at the Nationals.
“It was my first real opportunity to compete against Canada’s best and it was definitely a significant bump forward in my career path,” Dueck said.
Although he may be retired from competitive skiing now, Dueck’s energy has shifted to focus on empowering those with life-altering injuries and those going through transitions in sport. The initiative is in full collaboration with UBC Okanagan, The Live it! Love it! Foundation and Freedom Movement Inc..
“We provide innovative recovery solutions and mentorship opportunities to those living with life altering injury and those going through transition. Our basic ethos is empowerment through adventure, blended with experiential learning grounded in mindfulness,” explained Dueck. “Sports have been good to me for the past 25 years and I feel it’s my duty to give back.”
He added that he and his wife are immersed in the business, focusing on different rehabilitation approaches from adventure to therapy including yoga, meditation, and stream of consciousness writing. He explained that they are also focusing on young athletes who are transitioning into full-time athletes, or anyone who is facing a major transition.
In terms of the targeted age group, Dueck says these athletes will be at various points of entry, generally speaking, however there tends to be a younger population between their 20’s and 30’s.
“People face transition all the time,” said Dueck. “We’re looking at ways we can best serve the users and also other foundations. We want to be able to work one-on-one with people but also present a tool kit in order to reach as many people as possible. Of course, [we’re] starting locally but eventually we hope to expand throughout the country, North America and internationally.”
Although this may be news for some, Dueck says this initiative is something he has been focused on since even before his injury.
“It seemed like a pretty obvious transition for me [after the injury], but it has taken two or three years to have enough time to really focus on it, so now I am able to dive right in,” he said. “I am also interested in becoming a part of the discussion on the transition at the end of life, between life and death, but the real focus right now is transition for athletes and life altering injury.”
