Tricia Downing was right in the thick of things at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. She wasn’t an athlete eyeing a medal at the time, but she played an integral role to a team that was. Then 26, she was the official press officer for the USA Table Tennis team.
“When I was there watching all the athletes at the opening ceremonies, I was thinking, ‘Wow, what I wouldn’t give to be an Olympian.’ And, at that point in my life, I figured that was something I was never going to do,” Downing explained.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and Downing, who resides in Denver, Colo., was taking the world’s stage in Rio de Janeiro. The thing that catapulted her to global competition in her 40s, no less? A mortifying cycling accident that cost her the use of her body from the chest down.
Following the life-altering injury, Downing realized her Olympic dream when she competed in pistol shooting at the 2016 Paralympic Games.
Photo by Mark Woolcott
“It was a completely different path than I ever imagined for my life, but it made me realize that you can get to goals in so many ways — more ways than you can even think of,” Downing said.
‘Paralympian’ is just one title the 48-year-old holds. Before she stepped into the shooting arena, she became the first female paraplegic to complete an Iron distance triathlon, and the second female paraplegic qualify for the Hawaii Ironman World Championships. After that, she turned to rowing, where she competed with the U.S. Rowing team at the World Championships in Bled, Slovenia. It’s no wonder all of that has led to a successful career as a motivational speaker and author (Cycle of Hope: My Journey from Paralysis to Possibility, and Chance for Rain, a novel due to hit shelves this spring).
To say she knows how to sit in that sweet spot of taking on massive challenges, with her best effort and energy available in the moment, is an understatement. However, more impressive than that is her outlook on life’s unexpected obstacles, and how they can provide a stepping stone to a living a life that dreams are made of.
From Water to Air to Wheels
Downing has a rich background in sports, with her flying start coming in the water.
“When I was four years old, my mom enrolled me in swim lessons because she didn’t know how to swim, and she wanted all of her kids to learn for safety reasons,” Downing said. “Each one of us ended up joining the swim team.”
She swam into high school and competed in gymnastics as well. But, by the time she reached the University of Vermont, she realized that at 5’10,” competing in collegiate gymnastics wasn’t quite feasible, so she boldly launched her diving career.
“When I got to school, I talked to the swimming and diving coach and said, ‘I can dive. I’m not the greatest diver in the world. I just taught myself over the summers,'” Downing said. “I went to diving tryouts, and the coach said, ‘If you’re not afraid to learn and you’re not afraid to do the 3-meter springboard, then I want you on the team.'”
She started as the fourth-position diver, and by the end of her sophomore season, she was the second-position diver. However, following that year in school, she opted to transfer to the University of Maryland, where she quit athletics to focus on earning a degree in journalism.
She went on to graduate school at Eastern Illinois University, where she earned a masters degree in sport management and physical education. Prior to graduating, she did an internship with USA Cycling at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.,
“After watching cycling for the whole summer, and covering all of the events as a communications assistant, I decided I wanted to try it for myself,” Downing said.
So, she got her start in track cycling and then transitioned to road cycling.
The sport became a passion, and following her USA Cycling internship and stint with USA Table Tennis, she landed a job with Denver Public Schools. In her eyes, it was perfect. She could work during the school year, and spend the summers cycling to see how far she could go in the sport.
Photo by Mark Woolcott
However, one moment in time changed her grand plan. After a full year of working in the school system and traveling all over the country competing during the summer, a friend came to visit her one September weekend in 2000. The two went out for an easy training ride, but on the way back, a car turning onto a side street struck Downing head-on.
“I tried to hit my brakes, but I still hit the front corner of the car. I was launched off my bike and landed on the car’s windshield, and then I fell to the ground,” Downing recounted. “When I fell, I couldn’t feel my legs. So, I pretty much knew from the moment I hit, I was paralyzed.”
Not only did she fracture multiple vertebrae in her back, but she also fractured one vertebrae in her neck, and broke two ribs and her scapula.
Her body was broken, but her spirit as an athlete was not.
Not Down and Out for Long
Downing began her recovery at Craig Hospital, a world-renowned Denver-based rehabilitation hospital that specializes in neuro-rehabilitation for those with spinal cord injuries and/or traumatic brain injuries.
Thanks to their highly-focused care, Downing got on a new set of racing wheels almost immediately.
“At Craig, they came and asked me, ‘What do you want to do for fun, and what do you want to get back doing?'” Downing said. “My recreational therapist took me out on the handcycle and introduced me to the racing chair, so I was on that stuff right away.”
And, “that stuff” wasn’t exactly foreign to Downing either. Before the accident, she was a tandem pilot for a blind cyclist. She served as his eyes as the two raced together to cross the finish line.
“Because I knew what was out there for athletes with disabilities, I kind of had a head start,” Downing explained. “Even before leaving the hospital, I planned a half-marathon in Hawaii with friends.”
She was discharged from the hospital in January, and ended up racing the half-marathon in June. But, that was just the beginning. According to Downing, the accident, and subsequent recovery, fostered a greater mental toughness, so she went ahead and set some lofty goals, including completing an Ironman — a brutal three-stage race featuring a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run — distances she conquered with her new set of wheels.
Photo c/o Tricia Downing
So, why did this endurance athlete transform into a Paralympic shooter? Simple. Her body told her it was time. Following the 2010 Ironman in Kona, shoulder pain was limiting her time on the handcycle and on the racing chair.
“I was overbuilt in the front of my body, and I had not had that same strength in my back,” Downing said. “I started rowing to try to work on my back. I ended up competing in the World Championships, but I took it too far, too fast, injuring my back and my hip, so I was out of sports completely for a couple of years. Finally, I decided I had to get back to competing. I didn’t care what the sport was. So, I picked shooting. I didn’t know anything about guns, but I talked to the national team coach and got involved. It’s a very mental sport, and it’s really made me think in different ways as an athlete. It’s a great challenge.”
She’ll be competing in the 2018 World Championships and has her sights set on the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo as well.
“I realize that even though I live life from a wheelchair, there’s still so much I can do,” she said.
And, she’s imparting that philosophy to so many others who may be struggling to live life from a seated position.
Discovering a New Life
Downing launched Camp Discovery in the fall of 2009, which is a three-day all-female camp in the mountains of Colorado constructed to teach women in wheelchairs various skills and get them involved in physical fitness. Sports like golf, tennis, swimming, rock climbing and ice hockey are certainly highlights, but participants also benefit from learning more day-to-day tips for navigating life in a wheelchair.
“Going through that life-altering transition can be really intimidating for people because it’s hard to live life from a wheelchair. You have to learn how to transfer off the floor, or you have people looking at you differently or treating you differently,” Downing said. “Many of the camps and clinics are male-dominated, and sometimes it’s hard to go to those things and be the only woman. I wanted to offer an opportunity to other women to not only get involved in sports and fitness activities, but also create that support system that would help them excel in life with confidence.”
In the camp’s decade-long existence, more than 80 women from the ages of 21 to 74 have attended, and all of them are invited back for the big 10-year reunion in 2018.
Photo c/o Tricia Downing
So many women have benefited since the camp’s inception, like Anna, who arrived at Camp Discovery the first year with an injury to her spinal cord at the same level as Downing. She wasn’t independent. She spent most of her days sitting around watching television, and she had home care to help with personal needs.
“She was stuck. She came to camp, got the chance to meet other women and try different activities,” Downing said. “When she saw me doing things like driving my car or being able to organize this camp, she realized there was so much more out there for her. Since that first camp, she went back to school and got a bachelors degree. Now, she’s working on her masters. She did away with home health care, got her own apartment, a car and has traveled all over the place. All she really needed to know was what was possible, and then she was able to go out and conquer it. It was a really empowering situation for her.”
Given that Downing has excelled as a para-athlete, and as a mentor for others in their evolution on two wheels, she’s well versed in handling massive life change, in whatever form that comes.
“It doesn’t mean your life is over,” she said. “It means you have to figure out new ways to do what it is that you want to do.”
Standing or sitting, that is advice everyone could take to heart.
If you’d like to keep up with Tricia, you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram, or if you’d like to book her for a speaking engagement, visit TriciaDowning.com.
