22 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | SI.COM
FACE S IN THE CROWD
to a gold medal win over Switzerland.
Then, in late October, Uranchimeg
and her teammates finished fourth at
the World Championships in Beijing,
earning enough qualifying points to
secure a bid to the Winter Games.
“For someone like me, an
immigrant, who didn’t know where I
was going to be 20 years ago, getting
to represent Team USA is crazy,” says
Uranchimeg, 48, who tried the sport
TEAM USA needed a medal, and
Batoyun Uranchimeg had never
before competed on international
ice. Without a podium finish at a
qualifying event in Lohja, Finland,
last April, the U.S. team’s path to
the 2022 Paralympics would close.
Uranchimeg, an alternate, filled
in during the tournament as the
lead—the first curler to toss stones
in a match—and helped Team USA
BATOYUN
URANCHIMEG
Bir thplace: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Hometown: Burnsville, Minn.
Date of Bir th: June 23, 1973
Sport: Wheelchair Curling
Position: Alternate/Lead
by DAN FALKENHEIM Photograph by DAVID SHERMAN