Meet the Buffs competing in the Milano-Cortina Paralympics
- Mason Davis
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
The 2026 Paralympic Winter Games opening ceremony was on Thursday, and competitions run from last Saturday through March 15. Paralympic athletes from all over the world will have their shot at a gold medal.
There are six categories of events: para alpine skiing, para biathlon, para cross-country skiing, para ice hockey, para snowboard and wheelchair curling.
The University of Colorado Boulder has three current or former students competing: Kyle Taulman, Spencer Wood and Brett Bolton.
Bolton is the only current CU student in the Paralympics and is a member of Team USA sled hockey. He was born without one of his legs.
Sled hockey has been his life for nearly a decade, but he only recently reached its pinnacle.
“I started playing on the US national sled hockey team back in the fall of 2023, so I've been on the team for 3 years,” he told Sko Buffs Sports. “I was previously on the US development team when I was 15, in 2022, and I've been playing sled hockey for around nine years now.”
This is Bolton’s first Paralympics, but he was a gold medalist in the 2023 World Championships and a silver medalist in 2024.
Bolton didn’t make the US roster for 2025’s championships but is now back in the lineup and eager to compete. This moment was a turning point for Bolton’s career.
“I think it was a perfect time to get that reality check, especially coming up to one of the biggest stages, global stages,” he said. “It was a great time for me to be able to reflect on what I need to improve, and it just gave me so much more fire for this season.”
Bolton has big goals for this Paralympics.
“To make sure I'm contributing any way I can,” he said. “It's a team sport, so making sure that what I'm doing is sacrificing for what's best for the team, and hopefully, overall, as a team, to win a fifth consecutive gold medal.”
He is on his way to achieving those goals, as in the first match at the Paralympics on Saturday, he had two goals as the US beat Italy 14-1. USA sled hockey’s next game will be against Germany on Monday.
Taulman, 24, from Winter Park, Colorado, is a para alpine skier. He is a former CU Boulder student. Taulman was also in the Paralympics and Para Alpine World Championships in 2022.
Taulman was affected by a high-risk neuroblastoma that wrapped around his spinal cord and led to him being paralyzed at just two years old. But he began skiing at only three and competes in sitting events.
Taulman will compete on March 15 in the Men’s Slalom Sitting Final.
Wood, 29, from Pittsfield, Vermont, graduated from CU Boulder in 2021. He is also a para alpine skier. This will be his third Paralympics, as he was also a competitor in 2018 and 2022. He has also competed in three world championships in 2019, 2022 and 2025.
Wood suffered a stroke while in the womb, and this caused hemiplegia on the right side of his body. He started racing at just five years old, but didn’t do so competitively until 2014. Wood competes in standing events.
Wood competed in the Men’s Downhill Standing Final on Saturday and finished 14th with a time of 1:22.06. He was only 4.27 seconds behind the winner. He will also compete in the Men's Alpine Combined Standing, Men's Giant Slalom Standing, Men's Super-G Standing and Men's Slalom Standing.
The games are taking place in Milano Cortina and are being broadcast on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, CNBC and NBC Sports.