Winter Paralympics: Grace Miller, the China-born US skier ready to prove she ‘can do most things other people can do’
- Adopted by an Alaskan in Guangzhou, the 22-year-old is ready to impress in her second Winter Games
- Miller, who competes with one pole against others’ two, has had her mother’s ‘100 per cent support’ throughout her life and athletic career
Team USA Nordic skier Grace Miller is tipped for a breakout performance in what will already be her second Winter Paralympics.
The 22-year-old has been excitedly posting Beijing Games titbits on her social media, giving fans a glimpse of slick national team outfits, athlete’s village “smart” beds and 24/7 food supplies- but competing in the mainland holds a much deeper meaning.
Born without a left forearm in Guangzhou, Miller was adopted by a single American mother at the age of three.
She would go on to shine in the national biathlete and cross-country skiing scenes, before making her Paralympic debut as a high-schooler in Pyeongchang in 2018.
Most impressive is that Miller, who has always batted aside notions that being born without half an arm is disadvantageous, is holding her own against world-class skiers with two arms and two poles.
Here’s what you need to know about the outdoors-loving, “walking slice of humble pie” from Palmer, Alaska, who dreams of winning a medal in her birthplace.
