Sports Illustrated - USA (2022-02)

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