Adventure Trail

From Classroom to Cross-Country: John Kusku’s Inspiring Journey in Para Nordic Skiing

Ossie Khan

27th June 2024 2 min read

John Kusku’s passion for math and science began early, even before he attended a NASA space camp in elementary school. Today, he channels that passion as a high school math teacher and as a Para cross-country skier.

Kusku, 39, is visually impaired, so when he began training in Nordic skiing two years ago, he couldn’t watch other skiers on the course. He had to find alternative ways to learn cross-country skiing and biathlon, using his scientific mindset to focus on the physics of skiing. This approach is similar to how he played goalball, a sport he excelled in as a member of the U.S. national men’s goalball team for over a decade.

“With my vision being so poor now, cross-country skiing is the first sport I learned completely blind,” Kusku, who lives in the Detroit area, explained. “I’ve always relied on watching others to learn sports, but with skiing, I had to rely entirely on direct instruction.”

Kusku embraced Nordic skiing with an open mind. He concluded his first season of racing at the 2023 U.S. Biathlon National Championships in Casper, Wyoming, and competed at the U.S. Cross Country Ski Nationals in Midway, Utah, during his second season. He plans to race next season at the renowned American Birkebeiner in Wisconsin, the largest cross-country race in North America.

“Seeing the speed of Paralympians like Max Nelson and Jake Adicoff, I know it will take time to reach that level,” Kusku said with a laugh. “I’m aiming for the 2030 team, not 2026.”

Kusku was born with a hereditary degenerative retinal disease, leaving him with less than one degree of vision in each eye. Despite being legally blind from birth, he enjoyed playing soccer and inline hockey with friends in his Detroit suburb. However, his vision deteriorated in middle school, prompting him to find new sports.

He discovered goalball, a sport for visually impaired players aiming to score by throwing a ball into the opponent’s net. Initially, he found it boring but fell in love with it after attending a sports camp hosted by the Michigan Blind Athletic Association, where he now serves as vice president.

“At camp in eighth grade, I fell in love with goalball, especially after getting a bloody nose in my first game,” Kusku recalled. “It got me hooked.”

Kusku joined the U.S. national goalball team in 2009, earning a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics and finishing fourth in Tokyo 2020. He then turned his attention to Para Nordic skiing, inspired by his childhood experiences in a downhill skiing program for blind skiers and by watching the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

“That was the moment I knew I needed to pursue Nordic skiing,” Kusku said.

In December 2022, at age 37, Kusku tried Nordic skiing for the first time at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont, guided by Clare Egan, a two-time Olympian in biathlon.

Kusku’s endurance background, including running the Detroit Free Press Marathon and the Boston Marathon twice, helped him transition to Nordic skiing. He also applied skills from goalball, particularly the ability to follow auditory cues.

“Goalball is sound-dependent, and that skill helps me follow my guide’s commands while skiing,” Kusku said. “Most people couldn’t follow a speaker through a white landscape they can’t see.”

Kusku’s journey in Para Nordic skiing is a testament to his resilience and scientific approach, proving that with determination and the right mindset, anything is possible.

 

Source:

https://www.usparanordic.org/news/2024/june/12/it-s-just-physics-math-teacher-goalball-paralympian-john-kusku-is-embarking-on-a-new-journey-into-nordic-skiing

Learn more: https://www.adventurefilm.academy/

 

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