Alaska's Andrew Kurka Is Poised to Attack Cortina's Paralympic Slope with a Vengeance

Alaskan Andrew Kurka was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the lead-up to the Beijing 2022 Paralympics as a top contender to bring home multiple medals; however, it didn’t go quite as planned.

Then 30, Kurka was at the pinnacle of his Para alpine skiing career, in addition to being the defending Paralympic monoski downhill champion from PyeongChang 2018. And boasting multiple world titles too.

But a crash shortly before competition on the Paralympic course in China changed things abruptly. Despite multiple injuries suffered, yet not immediately diagnosed, Kurka still competed in the Paralympic downhill and nearly miraculously finished fourth. 

“I raced with a broken arm, but I got fourth,” Kurka says. A major accomplishment in itself and an indication of Kurka’s toughness, determination, and grit. He expanded upon the incident, injuries sustained, and consequences. 

“A strong wind gust in Beijing took me into the fence and broke my humerus and thumb. I had to wait for my greater tuberosity, which is the upper portion of my shoulder, to heal back together, and then I had my bicep re-attached, thumb surgery, and rotator cuff, labrum, scapula, a whole bunch of things reattached,” Kurka reveals.

“And before that, I broke my back, my femur, a lot of bones, so I was out for a year and a half. Coming back, my main focus was to build back to what I was,” he informed.

Naturally, it was a long and arduous road to recovery. Kurka’s determination and commitment to return to competition was otherworldly.

A Course Built for Him and Confidence Levels Soaring

This week, all smiles in the sunny Cortina finish area and relishing one of the best seasons of his 17-year U.S. Ski Team career, Kurka is feeling good, poised and confident. He says that the Olympia delle Tofane piste, in which he unexpectedly won a World Cup race two seasons ago, “is built for me, it really is.”

“I’ve been around for a while and have the experience. When I come out and race these events, I’m not trying to crush all the young kids. I’ve been through it, and I’ve competed in the Games before. I am here to learn, I am here to assess, and I’m here to beat them when it matters,” Kurka proclaims boldly.

The Palmer, Alaska, airplane pilot and great outdoorsman, who owns and operates a B&B with his wife in Wasilla, fearlessly embarks on his fourth Paralympics over these upcoming nine days in Italy. Now age 34, he believes adamantly that he can replicate his gold (downhill) and silver medal (super-G) performance from eight years ago at PyeongChang 2018.

“Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, I’ve been on the podium in just about every downhill this season,” Kurka tells POWDER, after the opening downhill training run in Cortina. “I’ve got a really good chance. And especially on a course like this, experience plays a huge part.

“There are quite a few more airs on this course than in years past, and it’s a lot turnier too, so it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a very entertaining run to watch for a lot of people, so I’m looking forward to that.

“The level of confidence coming in is very, very confident. I know what it takes to win. I just need to not play my entire card before the time happens,” he says.

Twelve-time Paralympic alpine skiing medalist Chris Waddell, who will work another Paralympics as a host and analyst for NBC’s extensive coverage, likes Kurka’s chances.

“More than anything, Andrew is so tough mentally, which means complete conviction and commitment to the course — look for him to tuck the whole downhill,” Waddell tells POWDER.

Kurka and his rivals will be charging hard for gold on the same Olympian delle Tofane piste that his fellow American Breezy Johnson captured Olympic gold on with a near-flawless run just three weeks ago. He seeks a perfect storm, similar to the one that produced the Olympic downhill champion.

Accident, Disability and Classification

Prior to ski racing, Kurka was a six-time Alaskan state champion in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. However, his Olympic wrestling dreams took a detour when, at age 13, he was severely injured in an all-terrain vehicle accident, which damaged three vertebrae in the middle of his spinal cord. Two years later, Kurka first tried monoskiing, encouraged by his physical therapist through a program called Challenge Alaska. 

Kurka has been one of the most successful U.S. Para alpine skiers for over 17 years on the U.S. Ski Team, albeit halted frequently by injuries and rehabilitation. He continues to fight on and will be a medal contender not only in downhill but also in super-G and, likely, giant slalom.

His spinal injury is considered an LW 12-1 racing classification, one of the most able-bodied classifications in the sitting category, only slightly less capable than 12-2. Final racing times are adjusted accordingly to the classifications.

Top Guns and Rivals to Beat

The highly experienced and savvy competitor reels off who he believes will be his toughest challengers in Cortina. He lists Canadian friend Kurt Oatway, Jeroen Kampshreur of the Netherlands, New Zealand’s Corey Peters, and Italian fan favorite Rene Di Silvestro.

With Oatway directly next to him in the finish area, and after some good-natured ribbing about the U.S. men’s hockey team knocking off rival Canada for Olympic gold, Kurka concedes: “Kurt and I are good buds. If I don’t win, I want him to win, for sure.

“We both started being extremely gung-ho in the sport, either winning or crashing, and we’ve both broken a lot of bones throughout our learning experiences of this. And in that process, we’ve learned where that fine line is, how to manage, and how to assess it. Not everyone in this sport, not all of our competitors, have learned that fine line yet,” he says.

Then Kurka’s ultra-confidence and bravado kick back in.

“And if we push that fine line a little more comfortably than they do, we’re gonna come out on top. All right. I’m gonna come out on top. I’m gonna come out on top,” Kurka proclaims, with a smile.

The men’s and women’s Paralympic downhills launch out of the Olympian delle Tofane starthouse, bright and early on Saturday morning. Let the Games begin!

Related: U.S. Para Alpine Skiers and Snowboarders Are Amped for Winter Paralympics “Italian Style”