Paralympic snowboarder Brittani Coury will make a stop at Steamworks Brewing Company for a meet-and-greet on Friday afternoon at Steamworks Brewing Company before heading to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to finish her preparation for the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in March in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Coury, 31, originally from Aztec, graduated from the nursing program at Pueblo Community College in 2016 and resides in Durango.
Coury is currently the nation’s highest-ranking female in the lower limb two category, which is the designation for athletes with an impairment in one or two legs. A common example in the category is an amputation below the knee, which is what happened to Coury.
Coury had her lower right leg amputated, about midway between her ankle and knee, in June 2011 after several surgeries to repair an ankle injury she suffered while snowboarding on Christmas Eve in 2003 were unsuccessful.
The amputation sent Coury on a new path and she found a passion in healthcare. But she quickly began yearning for the thrills of competitive snowboarding and made her comeback last winter.
In a matter of a few months, Coury attracted the attention of the national team and earned a World Cup silver medal in snowboard-cross and a bronze medal in banked slalom.
The meet-and-greet event will be held from 4-6 p.m. at Steamworks.
kschneider@durangoherald.com
