Chris Waddell's Nametags Chat Podcast

Zach Miller is a 24yr old snowboarder who was born with Left Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy. He discovered snowboarding through his treatment at Children's Hospital Colorado, and has been a member of the US Parasnowboard Team since 2018. He is a 2022 Paralympian, 2-time World Champion, and avid enthusiast of motorcycles and video games.

As an Australian sporting legend, Katrina Webb is no stranger to a Gold medal podium or a star-lit stage. She has received awards and medals most athletes only dream about. Despite this success, her journey hasn't always been easy.

Paralympic Gold Medalist & Wheelchair Softball and Basketball Champion on the Nametags Chat Podcast with Chris Waddell.

I am a 38 year old Adaptive Athlete, Professional Monoskier, TeamUSA member, World Cup Ski Racer, USA National Alpine Ski team member and 2022 US Paralympic Ski team member -Big Sky resort Athlete Ambassador - I'm also one of only a few Sit skier to ski Big Sky's Big Couloir and Many first sit-ski descents, Gullies 2,3, Summit Direct, and Lower Pinnacles at Big Sky as well as first descents of Jaws 3D, Slushmans Ravine and Pat's Chute at Bridger Bowl. Some of my recent projects have been featured in Outsideonline.com (Outside Magazine), Freeskier mag, Teton Gravity Research, Snowbrains, Dailymotion, Powder magazine interview and others. 8 years ago, I was paralyzed as a passenger in a car crash in the Gallatin Canyon. It was a challenging time for myself, my wife and our 3-year-old twins. After 2 months of rehab, I returned home to Bozeman. 4 weeks later I was learning to monoski at Big Sky.

Egyptian wheelchair racer now living and training in the US. Hoda shares her journey to coming to the US to train and compete and what the future holds for her! 

Dan is a co-founder and President of Team See Possibilities, a non-profit organization which empowers young people with vision loss to thrive by providing scholarship and mentorship to high achieving college students who are vision impaired. He also serves as chairman of the board of Success Beyond Sight, a nonprofit corporation that helps individuals who are blind or have low vision to advance professionally and fully engage in community life by eliminating barriers to their equal opportunity for success.Dan is a member of and co-founded Team Sea to See which was comprised of four blind cyclists riding tandem bicycles in 2018 Race Across America, known as the toughest bike race in the world. They completed the race in an amazing 7 days, 15 hours, and 3 minutes. Team Sea to See is now producing a documentary on the project with Sterling Light Films.Dan also enjoys taking on epic endurance challenges around the world, challenging the perception of what a person with vision loss is capable of achieving. Dan was the first blind runner to complete the 46 mile rim to rim to rim run across the Grand Canyon and back, and has subsequently run over a dozen marathons, Ironman triathlons, as well as trail-ultramarathons in South America, Africa, Asia and New Zealand.

When motivational speaker Mike Schlappi takes the floor, a dazzling smile greets you. Then you notice the wheelchair. If ever a man was defined by what he can do instead of what he cannot do, it's Gold Medalist and Author Mike Schlappi. At the age of 14, Mike was an outstanding athlete when a gunshot to the chest at point-blank range challenged his dreams. He would never walk again. After months of rigorous physical therapy, he began playing basketball from his wheelchair and went on to become a standout athlete. 

Monoskier with Cerebral Palsy and Varsity Wrestler at Andover High School.

Krige was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. He was an all-round sportsman excelling in athletics, rugby, squash and surfing. In 1987 Krige lost both his legs during a military skirmish in Angola. This devastating incident changed Krige's life forever.

Tyler Byers began racing at the age of nine. His first major road race was the Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, Wash., in 1992 - a race he's competed in ever since. Byers went to his first Junior National Wheelchair Championships in 1994, and came away with a bronze medal in the 1,500m. It was then that Byers decided to set his sights even higher, aiming for the Paralympic Games. Out of high school, Byers was recruited by Derek Brown to race on the University of Arizona wheelchair racing team, where he competed throughout his undergraduate career.In 2003, Byers qualified for the 1,500m World Championship finals in Paris, France, as one of the top eight individuals in the world. After competing at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, Byers traveled to Beijing to participate in the 2008 games.Byers graduated from the University of Arizona in 2005 with a degree in engineering mathematics. He currently lives with his wife Analee and two cats.

Michelle Konkoly is a 4x Paralympic medalist and pediatric rehabilitation rehab resident physician. After a traumatic spinal cord injury in 2011 left her with permanent weakness in her legs, she pivoted from able bodied swimming to the Paralympic sphere, and her career took off. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games, she was selected as team captain and won 2 gold medals (S9 50m and 100m freestyle), 1 silver medal (400m freestyle relay), and 1 bronze medal (400m medley relay), as well as set a World Record in the 100m Freestyle. While she retired from competitive swimming in 2018, she remains involved as a broadcaster and worked for NBC Sports as an analyst and on-air commentator for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. After graduating from medical school in 2021, she started her residency in Pediatrics and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and is pursuing a career working with children and young athletes with disabilities.

Arly is a 4-time Winter Paralympian representing Mexico. He is an entrepreneur, baker, film director, healthy lifestyle promoter and much more! A 13 year sports career has led Arly to be the only representative of Mexico in the last 4 Paralympic Winter Games. He has been a continental champion on several occasions, National Champion of both the United States and Canada. He has been a speaker for 12 years, encouraging children, youth and adults to dream big and work for their dreams. He studied film direction and recently made his acting debut for an Amazon Prime series. Entrepreneur. And now baker and promoter of a healthy life and mobility. Arly seeks that his passage through this land serves to ignite every heart that crosses his path.

Paul is a three-time Paralympian competing in Sydney Australia, Beijing China, and London England. Also, he became a 2-time world champion and in 2002 was named most valuable player at the World Championships in Japan. During his senior year of college, Paul's team won the Intercollegiate Championship, with Paul receiving Most Valuable Player, Academic All-American, and Sportsmanship honors. UT-Arlington later retired the jersey #20 in his honor. He went on to become a 5-time National Champion in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association and was named Most Valuable Player three times. For his accomplishments, he was nominated for both the Laureus and ESPY awards as Best Male Athlete with a Disability. Twice Paul was invited to the White House, meeting Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. After retiring from the National Team, Paul has anchored for NBC as a color commentator during the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympic games.

Swimmer Trischa Zorn is the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals, including 41 gold medals, over seven Paralympics. Zorn, who was born with a genetic eye condition that left her blind, first competed in the Paralympics at Arnhem 1980. Just 16, she won seven gold medals. She won six more gold medals at New York 1984 and continued on from there.Zorn became the first visually-impaired athlete to earn an NCAA Division I scholarship, becoming a four-time All-American backstroker at the University of Nebraska. USA Swimming created the Trischa L. Zorn Award for a swimmer or relay team with a disability for outstanding performance and excellence.Credit: USOPM.Org 

Not only is he a 22-time finisher (and five-time division winner) of the prestigious BAA® Boston Marathon (making him the only person to have completed the marathon on foot and subsequently in a wheelchair), he has also earned more than 100 gold medals in the National Wheelchair Veterans Games (the nation's largest annual sporting event for athletes with disabilities). A triathlete since 1999, Savicki became the first quadriplegic to finish the 70.3-mile Beach to Battleship Half Ironman Triathlon in his home state of North Carolina in 2009. He also played quad rugby – a Paralympic sport more popularly known as MURDERBALL – for 13 years and spent three years as a high-performance program member competing for a spot on the Athens 2004 Paralympic team. Mike is former deputy director of World T.E.A.M. Sports, a non-profit for people with and without disabilities. Mike is also the founder of Afterburner Communications - A full service communications company focusing on helping clients develop and deliver their image, promote their brand, and communicate their message. And a high school teacher at the Community School of Davidson North Carolina.

Andrew Kurka joins us for round 3 on Nametags Chat. Andrew talks about his unfortunate crash in a training run in Beijing just minutes before his official downhill run start.

Andrew Kurka joins us for round 2, an update on his Paralympic Journey! Three-time Paralympian (2014, 2018, 2022); Two-time Paralympic medalist (1 gold, 1 silver)Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, 4th (downhill)Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, gold (downhill), silver (super-G), 7th (super combined)Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014

Born in China Adopted Spent the first few years of my life in an orphanage then was adopted by an American Family at the age of 4 years old and was brought to the United States. First lived in Alabama then moved to Spokane Washington. First Paralympic debut this year to compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.- One of youngest members on the U.S Paralympic Track and Field team- Youngest athlete to compete in the 100 in the T54 classification at the Toyko Paralympic Games

My name is Chuck Aoki, and I am originally from Minneapolis, MN, and I have used a wheelchair since the age of ten, due to a rare genetic condition. I am a three-time US Paralympic medalist in the sport of wheelchair rugby, current captain of the team heading to World Championships in October and have been involved in adapted sports for my entire life, starting with wheelchair basketball at age 7. Currently I work as a Community Access Navigator at the University of Michigan, where I oversee our "Prescription to Play" grant program, intended to increase access to sports and fitness opportunities for people living with SCIs.

Jamie Nieto was born in Seattle, Washington and was raised as an only child in a single parent home in Sacramento, California. He's a 2x Olympian, actor, writer and producer. Check it out!

Jenna was diagnosed with a congenital birth defect called Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency from birth. This means that her left leg did not grow and she was born without a hip joint. Fesemyer fell in love with wheelchair racing and decided to pursue wheelchair racing in college. After some quick research, it was easy to find that the University of Illinois houses the best wheelchair athletes in the world. She's since attended the University of Illinois for her bachelors degree and is currently finishing up her masters degree in Education Policy. Along with her studies, she's also grown as an elite athlete, testing her limits in the Abbott World Major Marathons, with top finishes in the Chicago, New York City, and London Marathons. In 2021, Fesemyer had the honor of representing the United States of America at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games - competing in the 1500m, 5000m, and marathon.

Bob Babbit co-founded the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which has helped 60% of Team USA Tokyo 2020 Paralympics at some point in their careers with grants for equipment, training and travel to the tune of $700,000+ for 128 athletes. Not only has it started almost everyone on their journey, it has also built a community that strengthens the group and the individuals. 

Monica Quimby reconciles the life of a former anatomy professor and former Miss Wheelchair Maine with being the current goon on the US Women's Sled Hockey Team, striving for the sports inclusion in the Paralympics. For those of you who don't know, the goon is the intimidator, the enforcer and generally the hardest hitter on the team. Monica is that and a huge advocate for the sport. The next five years of her life are mapped out in color coded post-it notes. She journals daily and re-evaluates every three months. This is a woman on a mission. 

Two-time Paralympian in CP Soccer Eli Wolff led the effort in 2019 for Major League Baseball to change the "disabled list" to the "injured list." What's in the word change? For people with disabilities, it's the difference between being in the game and out of the game. A disability doesn't preclude you from playing and contributing, while an injury might. Eli's work focuses on the intersection of research, policy and practice to advance sport and human rights, development and social change. He's moving the needle for all people.

Keith Gabel swept the podium with his US teammates at snowboarding's inaugural Paralympics in Sochi 2014. Almost ten years later, you might think that Grizz is getting grizzled, but he continues to stay fresh incorporating jiu jitsu, meditation along with a fair amount of coffee as he and his wife own their own shop. Keith's journey to success goes through a person growth and enrichment that is success for all of us to see. 

Josh Sweeney grew up in Phoenix, AZ, joining the Marines directly after high school. He deployed to Afghanistan with 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines as a Scout Sniper in 2009 where he was injured by an IED while on patrol. He sustained severe injuries to his legs and arms resulting in the amputation of both legs above the knees and multiple hand and arm surgeries. While undergoing rehabilitation in San Antonio, TX at the Center for the Intrepid he began playing adaptive sports and realized he was still an athlete despite his injuries. He is a 2014 Paralympic Gold Medalist in the sport of Sled Hockey and was a member of the USA Nordic Skiing Paralympic team in 2022. Josh also competes in Para Triathlon where he was ranked internationally in 2019 winning a World Cup and USA Nationals. He most recently began competing in handcycling, pushing the gravel cycling initiative of getting more adaptive bikes in races and being the first handcyclist to complete the 105-mile course at Rebeccas Private Idaho.On top of all his athletic achievements, he enjoys helping the adaptive sports community by making custom equipment that is needed to solve problems they face

Stan Clawson is a Utah filmmaker with nearly 20 years of production experience. He owns his own freelance production company and is currently working on a documentary series. He is also an adjunct film instructor at Salt Lake Community College, with over 14 years of teaching experience. In addition to filmmaking, Stan is also heavily involved in the disability community as a speaker and consultant. He has served on the board of the Christopher Reeve Foundation, and currently serves on the executive board for the University of Utah's TRAILS program. Stan also works heavily with the local Utah art scene. From 2015 to 2017, he served on the board of Utah's local Burning Man event, Element 11, as both the marketing lead and the Chairman. Stan's other interests include hand-cycling, scuba diving, and creating art in the form of painting and illustration

John Register is a Silver medalist, two-time, two-sport Paralympic Athlete, two-time Olympic trials qualifier, combat Army veteran, amputee, and the founder of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee's now defunct Paralympic Military Sport Program. Register uses his life experience as an inspirational speaker to inspire people to hurdle adversity, amputate fear, and embrace a new normal mindset to win life's medals.

Connor Hogan's tongue betrays him. It pokes out of his mouth when he's skiing and mountain biking telegraphing his desired direction. The ski racer with Cerebral Palsy athlete turns perception of disability upside turns perception of disability upside down in his singular desire to go fast as possible, regardless of direction.

Spencer Wood ended up with an absolutely awful haircut as part of a rookie initiation to the World Cup tour. The rules were, he had to keep the cut until he reached the podium. Spencer turned perception of disability upside down by winning his first Paralympic World Cup. A stroke in the womb resulted in hemiplegia, but his ski racing career started with his able-bodied peers. A medical brace wasn't a brace. It was a ski boot.

Cindy Ehnes was the first American woman to win Gold in a Winter Paralympics. Her speed might have been a result of being a Bonne Bell girl, the sporty, outdoor group of girls that skied fast and sold cosmetics. If she lost a race the man got to kiss her. Then Cindy earned a law degree and launched a high-profile career in the healthcare field that included serving as Director of California's Department of Managed Health Care under Governor Schwarzenegger. How did turn perception of disability upside down? How didn't she?

Wheelchair innovator Joe Bieganek was a cop before he became a seating specialist. He turns perception of disability upside down by giving paras and amputees the connection to their equipment to make the impossible possible. Aspen Seating/Ride Designs fits athletes in monoskis, handcycles, hockey sleds and many other sports to maximize performance and maintain health.

Marko Cheseto lost his cousin to suicide while they were both running at the University of Alaska. Deep in grief, he took some anti-depressants and went for a long run in the woods only to get stuck in a snowstorm, lose his way, consciousness and eventually both of his legs to frostbite. He turned perception of upside down by running a 2:35:55 marathon, the fastest ever for an amputee.

Curtis Gunn just wanted to change beauty. Well, he didn't want to change it as much as he wanted to show beautiful people who might not have been previously noticed. The SHOT Modeling Agency might have been a bit ahead of its time when it represented solely models with disabilities, but it ushered in a shift in our view. It turned perception of disability upside down.

Tabitha (Tabi) Haly is a software engineer and coder with JPMorgan Chase — and she also is a singer-songwriter and a disability advocate. Tabi was born with Muscular Dystrophy and was profiled on CNN's "The Human Factor" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. In 2019, Tabi performed at Mercury Lounge in celebration of her first studio album which is named after her track "I Wrote Life". Her next studio album coming out in 2022, featuring a song called "Gonna Be Good"!

The youngest track and field athlete in Rio at 16, but came away with two silvers and a bronze. Five years later Alexa Halko looks to put her stamp on these Games. She's battled two athletes from the UK since 2015. Will this be the event where she breaks through?

The 2002 US Sled Hockey Team only qualified for the Paralympics because they were the host country. Goalie Manny Guerra represented the last line of defense. Defend and score goals they did, all the way to the Gold Medal. No one gave them a chance, but them. That's turning perception of disability upside down.

While Triathlon was Kendall Gretsch's first love, she'd already won Paralympic medals in second sport of cross-country before she had the chance to demonstrate just how good she could be. In Tokyo, she did exactly that, making up twenty-six seconds on the final lap of the wheelchair portion to take the gold at the line. Kendall turns perception of disability upside by being the hardest working and most tenacious athlete out there.

Tanja Kari didn't care that she was a one-armed cross-country skier growing up in native Finland, she just cared that she was one of the twenty fastest in the country. She turned perception of disability upside down when people complained that she was too good for the Paralympics and by setting a new standard for them to chase.

In 2022, Orlando Perez became the first Puerto Rican to compete in the Winter Paralympics. He turned perception of disability upside down, switching from basketball to monoskiing, fighting, cajoling, and strategizing so that he could make the start in Beijing.

Andrew Haraghey might ski better than he walks. The Paralympic athlete with Cerebral Palsy turns perception of disability upside down by being a speed specialist. Even with compromised leg strength, he loves the fastest events. Clean-cut and soft spoken, you'd never know that his greatest joy is going like his hair is on fire.

Muffy Davis became a more successful Paralympian handcycling in one Games than she had in a lifetime as a ski racer. She turned perception of disability upside down by going from one the top Junior ski racers in the world to being one of the most disabled on the US Adaptive Ski Team following a training accident in which she broke her back. She went on a top career as a skier and then dominated as a cyclist.

Difficult times forced Jumpin' Jay to determine her why. It's to be a role model--to be the person that she wished she'd known when she was a kid. She's been through a lot. Her help comes from experience. She'll set her standard in Tokyo and then teach and coach both track and wrestling (yes, wrestling) when her athletic career is over.

Adam coaches the University of Illinois, the most successful wheelchair racing program in the world and a school that has set the standard for educating people with disabilities since World War II. He is kind, polite, respectful and constantly in search of a way to improve his athletes, his sport and his community. Then he shares it.

David Brown is the fastest blind athlete in the world. He was the first to go sub 11 seconds for the 100 meters, but he learned something new in quarantine. He learned to run straight, which should make his competitors nervous. The World Record Holder and defending Paralympic Champion feels like an athlete for the first time. Scary.

Lacey Henderson is an alternate for the Tokyo Paralympics. She was on the bubble for Rio too, but that doesn't mean that she won't make some noise if she gets there. She's ready to go. Let's see if she gets the chance. She started to pole vault on a bet from her father, which led to long jumping on the highest level.

Ann Cody is Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the State Department, but she was also one of the top wheelchair athletes for years. She's been shaping this world one way or another since the ‘70's.

Bob is a US Army veteran and served from 1976-1978 when he sustained a spinal cord injury in an automobile accident. Post-injury he moved to California and earned a degree in Broadcast Journalism from California State University, Long Beach. As an athlete, he twice won the Los Angeles Marathon and represented the United States at the Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea and again in Atlanta, GA. Bob hosted a long-running TV show, “In Pursuit,” on ESPN which highlighted a wide variety of disabled sports and athletes. Bob loves being outdoors doing activities such as handcycling, swimming, and gardening in his backyard.

Josh George moves fast. At the age of four he traded in walking for rolling and then turned those wheels into wings, constantly striving to move faster. Josh has won five Paralympic medals, is a six-time world champion, world record holder, and has won multiple major marathons. Along the way he has become a sought after motivational speaker, and an entrepreneur. In his journey Josh spreads the message of inclusivity, maximizing your potential, and, above all else, the idea that we must keep moving fast.

Dana lost her leg to cancer, but leaving her abusive marriage was more difficult than cancer recovery and amputation. An educator at heart, she's shifted to empower others to extract themselves from abusive relationships. Those efforts go well beyond words as she recently finished her first marathon.