24 January 2022 – Twenty Special Olympics athletes navigated Buttermilk Mountain’s treacherous slopes alongside professional snowboarders and skiers at the 2022 X Games this past Friday in Aspen, Colorado.
The Unified Dual Slalom competitions consisted of one Special Olympics athlete and one professional paired together. In the snowboarding competition, Daina Shilts successfully defended her gold medal alongside partner Mons Roisland. This marks the seventh X Games medal Shilts has received.
Shilts, who’s an active member of Special Olympics Wisconsin, credits the Badger State for preparing her for the X Games.
“I snowboarded as much as my state and Mother Nature allowed me to,” Shilts said.
Cody Field and Catherine Darrow, both of Special Olympics Colorado, rounded out the Unified Snowboarding medal stand with their silver and bronze medals, respectively.
The Unified Ski Slalom also saw a familiar face taking home the gold medal, as Palmer Lyons of Special Olympics Colorado successfully defended his title alongside partner James Woods. This year marked the second-ever Unified Skiing competition at the X Games.
It was a clean-sweep for Special Olympics Colorado skiers competing in their home state, as Halden Pranger and Tanner Jadwin took home the silver and bronze medals.
ESPN is the Global Broadcast Partner and the Global Presenting Sponsor of Special Olympics Unified Sports®. In 2019, Special Olympics and ESPN extended and expanded their game-changing relationship that has spanned over three-and-a-half decades.
Unified Snowboarding Competition Results
- Daina Shilts/Mons Roisland
- Cody Field/Rene Rinnekangas
- Catherine Darrow/Annika Morgan
- Charles Gutierrez/Joey Okesson
- Henry Meece/Jack Mitrani
- Heather Bean/Jamie Anderson
- Matthew Boyles/Dusty Henricksen
- Joseph Franken/Chris Klug
- Chase Lodder/Darcy Sharpe
- Mackenize Beauvais-Nikl/Zeb Powell
Unified Skiing Competition Results
- Palmer Lyons/James Woods
- Haldan Pranger/Aaron Blunck
- Tanner Jadwin/David Wise
- Kohlor von Eschen/Colby Stevenson
- Cameron Cox/Alex Hall
- Andrew Carlson/Megan Oldhan
- Andie Zitek/Giulia Tanno
- Amanda Leonard/Sarah Hoefflin
- Adrian Lukens/Trebor Kennison
- Caroline Willis/Victoria Arlen
