Josh Dueck is a Canadian alpine skier and Paralympic Gold Medalist.

Dueck grew up in Kimberley, BC Canada. It was in this rural mountain town where his love and appreciation for the great outdoors was born. He learned how to ski at the age of 13, and joined the local freestyle club when he was 15. It became clear to him that sliding around on snow and flying through the air was how he wanted to live his life.

In 2004, a harrowing freestyle skiing accident left Dueck paralyzed from the waist down. While his spinal cord may have been damaged, his determination to continue in the sport he loved was not.

Just five years after sustaining his injuries, Dueck became the 2009 Para-Alpine World Champion. He then took a silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Games, and won a silver medal on the 10th anniversary of his accident at the 2014 Olympic Games. Days later, he won a gold medal and was named Canada’s Flag Bearer at the Games.

In addition to his World Champion titles and Olympic medals, Dueck won gold in Mono Skier X at the 2011 X Games, bronze at the 2012 X Games. He has also won multiple IPC World Cup podiums, and was the first athlete to land a backflip on a sit-ski, a move that attracted so much global attention that he was invited to appear on The Ellen Degeneres Show.

Dueck is an ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation; is the president for the LIVE it LOVE it Foundation; was named 2012 National Geographic’s “Adventurer of the Year;” and the documentary that features him, Freedom Chair, has won numerous film festival awards. Dueck is also a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Recipient.

In September 2018, he was named executive director of Freestyle BC where he can directly impact the future of Canada’s freestyle skiers who are similarly vying for international success. A Queen’s Diamond Jubilee recipient, Dueck was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

Skiing, Paralympics Athlete, Olympic Sports, Award-Winning Athlete, Olympic Gold Medalist, Canada, National geographic,