2010 and 2014 Paralympic Medallist
2006 BC Winter Games

Born in the rural town of Kimberley, BC, Josh lived and breathed the outdoors. He learned to ski at the age of 13, joining the BC Freestyle Ski Team. Although he dreamed of becoming an Olympian, financial restraints redirected him to coaching aspiring skiers.
In 2004, Josh was demonstrating a jump and sustained a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from his waist down. After a strenuous rehabilitation process, he found his love for skiing again through para alpine skiing, and competed in the 2006 BC Winter Games.

Josh went on to get a silver medal in slalom at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games, gold in super combined and silver in downhill at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games. He was the flag-bearer at the Sochi Games closing ceremony. Along with his success at the Paralympics, Josh won gold in mono skier X at the Aspen Winter X Games in 2011, was the downhill world champion at IPC World Championships, and is an eight-time national champion.

Josh continued to prove his greatness by becoming the first sit-skier in the world to complete a backflip on snow, leading him to an appearance on the Ellen Show. He has since retired from competition but continues to advocate accessibility in sport and outdoor adventure opportunities for people with disabilities as the vice-president of the Live it! Love it! Foundation.

Check out Josh’s website joshdueck.com, the Live it! Love it! Foundation website liveitloveit.org, and follow him on Twitter @justdueck.

Photo credit above: paralympic.ca