Ottawa athlete Kevin Frost almost seems more concerned with raising awareness of impaired speed skating than winning gold medals reports Metro Canada (02/05/12).
The deaf-blind speed skater who suffers from Usher Syndrome will represent Canada at the Impaired Skating Championship in Scotland on May 12 and hopes to help raise awareness about getting the sport recognized as an official Paralympic sport.
More countries need to practise impaired skating before the International Paralympic Committee will consider adopting it. “If I can get another 10 people who come from different countries, that’s a gold medal to me.”
He has been training for seven years, but it hasn’t been easy. He describes his vision as looking through two plastic straws and sound has to hit 90 decibels in order for him to hear it. Yet that doesn’t stop him from training and enjoying other sports.
“At the beginning it was very difficult, but with anything in life, when you do 1,000 laps you get a hang of things,” said Frost in the middle of a training session at the Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex in Orleans.
The race in Scotland is a key step in his mission to get countries, including Canada, on board to raise awareness about impaired skating, attract new skaters, and get it sanctioned as a sport in the Paralympics.
To help fund his accommodations in Scotland, Toppers Pizza at 5497 Jeanne D’Arc Boulevard in Orleans is throwing a fundraiser Wednesday and will donate $4 for every large pizza sold.
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