Shannon Bloedel
Competition | 1999
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Shannon Bloedel was born into a very active and competitive family of ten children. Her life changed dramatically when, at the age of 10, a mini-bike accident left her paralyzed from the waist down. While attending Wilson High School in Tacoma, Shannon became active in tennis, swimming, javelin and weightlifting.
Later, while attending the University of Washington, she was recruited to try alpine skiing by a ski instructor on campus. The rest was history. Shannon was named to the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team in 1987. She went on to win multiple gold medals in the U.S. Nationals and later the Canadian Nationals in 1991. At the 1992 Winter Paralympic Games in Albertville, France, Shannon took home a silver medal in the Giant Slalom event.
Shannon retired from competition to raise a family and utilize her master’s degree training in rehabilitation therapy.
