Steve Cook
Competition | 2009
Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
School Name: National Ability Center
Born in New Hampshire, Steve Cook lost his right leg in 1988 in a farming accident. In his mid-20s, He moved to Salt Lake City to pursue the sport of mountain bike racing. After making his Paralympic debut as a cyclist at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Paralympic Games, Steve decided that Para Nordic skiing better suited his skills and pursued that sport in earnest. Steve’s preparations for the Paralympic competition included working a part-time job at a local bicycle shop while training after hours.
Steve first competed in the Winter Paralympics in 1998 in Nagano, Japan but failed to medal. In the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, he accounted for four of five medals won in the Nordic events, winning a U.S. record four silver medals. In 2005 he won two gold medals and a bronze to win the Disabled World Cup title at Fort Kent, Maine, in the Disabled World Championships that doubled as World Cup races. At the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Torino,
Italy, Cook won two gold medals and a silver. In all, Steve won seven Paralympic Games medals, seven Disabled World Championship medals and the Disabled World Cup Overall during an 11-year period.
In 2007, Steve retired from racing and began working at the National Ability Center in Park City, Utah. He helped develop a Nordic skiing program for disabled athletes there and later worked with the Park City Junior Nordic Ski Team. In 2014, Steve became Head Coach and Junior Program Director of the Utah Nordic Alliance.
