After serving and greatly sacrificing for his country as a soldier, Bristol, Tenn., native Heath Calhoun will serve and proudly celebrate it in another special role during tonight’s start of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Calhoun, a Team USA alpine skier, has been selected to carry the U.S. flag during this evening’s opening ceremonies. It’s an honor that not only reflects Calhoun’s status as a world-class Paralympic athlete, but his courage as a man who rebuilt his life after losing his legs while serving in Iraq.
“It’s just a huge honor to carry the American flag,” Calhoun said from Vancouver Thursday, during a conference call held by the U.S. Olympic Committee to announce his honor.
Calhoun said he was particularly moved and humbled because he was selected by fellow Team USA members to carry the flag. “I’m just absolutely thrilled and honored to have been selected,” he said.
It is an honor Calhoun clearly deserves, too, said Charlie Huebner, the USOC’s Paralympics chief.
“I think the American people can look at a young man like [Heath] and find a role model, an inspiration,” Huebner said.
And there’s plenty that’s inspirational in Calhoun’s journey from wounded soldier to flag-bearing elite athlete.
As an Army Ranger in Iraq, Calhoun was leading his squad one morning in November 2003, when a rocket-propelled grenade hit their convoy, gravely wounding him and killing another soldier. The attack caused Calhoun to lose both legs above the knees, but eventually, after numerous early setbacks and disappointments, he learned to regain mobility with prosthetic limbs.
Calhoun became hooked on skiing in 2004, when – following months of physical rehabilitation at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland – he was invited to attend a sports clinic in Aspen, Colo.
But it’s merely been four years since Calhoun, 30, actually began to ski competitively.
And that makes the Clarksville, Tenn., resident’s current status as a world-class Paralympian, even more impressive.
“Proud couldn’t begin to describe how we feel about what Heath’s done,” Kermit Calhoun, Heath’s father, said Thursday. “To accomplish what he’s done, in such a short period, is amazing. So while we hope he wins a medal, of course, whether he does or doesn’t won’t change what kind of character Heath’s shown.”
“He’s already a winner, just by being so determined not to stay down. And to keep living life,” he added.
Kermit Calhoun and wife, Judy – who live in Bristol, Va. – will fly to Vancouver this morning to see Heath carry in the American flag. Also flying in will be Heath Calhoun’s wife, Tiffany, and their three children, Mason, 7, Brystal, 5, and Bailee, 4.
During the conference call, Heath Calhoun touched often on the power he’s drawn from the steady backing he’s received.
“The support I’ve received from my mother, father, family and friends [has been] huge,” Calhoun said. “I’ve been able to say ‘yes’ to [competing] because of the support of my family.”
After carrying out his flag-bearing duties tonight, Calhoun will compete in three skiing events during the eight-day Winter Games: men’s downhill, men’s slalom and men’s super-G. He’ll compete in the “sitting” category of each event.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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