Chris Devlin-Young

{{About|the American skiing|the American football player|Chris Devlin}}

{{Infobox sportsperson

| image = Christopher Devlin-Young.jpg

| caption = Devlin-Young in 2012

| full_name = Christopher Devlin-Young

| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|December 26, 1962}}

| birth_place = San Diego, California, U.S.

| headercolor = lightsteelblue

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry| the {{USA}} }}

}}

Christopher Devlin-Young (born December 26, 1962) is an American alpine ski racer and two time Paralympic Champion, who resides in Campton, New Hampshire. He competes as a monoskier in the LW 12–1 class.

Career

Born in San Diego, Young was paralyzed in a plane crash in Alaska while serving in the United States Coast Guard in 1982.{{cite web |title=Athlete Profile: Chris Devlin-Young |url=http://www.usparalympics.org/athletes/chris-devlin-young |publisher=U.S. Paralympics |accessdate=2010-01-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309223347/http://usparalympics.org/athletes/chris-devlin-young |archive-date=2010-03-09 }} He learned to ski at the [https://archive.today/20080411074553/http://www.wintersportsclinic.va.gov/ National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic] in 1986 as a "four-tracker," standing on two skis while using outriggers. He was named to the U.S. Disabled Ski Team in 1989 and competed in the 1990 Disabled Skiing World Championships in Winter Park, Colorado, winning a silver medal and two bronzes in the LW-1 class. Young missed the 1992 Winter Paralympic team but qualified for the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, where he won gold in the slalom.

In 1995 Young began a two-year hiatus from racing to coach the New England Disabled Ski team at Loon Mtn. New Hampshire, and when he returned to the sport in 1997 it was as a monoskier. He missed the 1998 Winter Paralympics in Nagano, Japan but came back in 2002 with another gold, this time in super G, along with a silver in downhill. With that performance he became the first skier ever to win a Paralympic skiing gold medal in two different disability classes.{{cite web |title=Athletes: Chris Devlin-Young |url=http://www.usskiteam.com/adaptive/athletes/athlete?athleteId=1088 |publisher=U.S. Ski Team |accessdate=2010-01-08 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103113848/http://www.usskiteam.com/adaptive/athletes/athlete?athleteId=1088 |archivedate=2010-01-03}} He repeated his downhill performance in 2006, placing second behind teammate Kevin Bramble. In 2015, he won the Mono Skier X (X-Games), also becoming the oldest gold medalist in the history of the competition.Mark Kohlman, "[http://xgames.espn.com/xgames/gallery/12211839/image/27/mono-skier-x-devlin-young X-Games Aspen 2015 photo highlights]", ESPN.