FORNEY, Texas – 27-year-old Taylor Lipsett, of Mesquite, Texas, spent Sunday afternoon surrounded by family and friends in Forney before he catches a flight to Sochi, Russia, on Wednesday to represent the United States National Sled Hockey Team in the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.
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Lipsett is no newcomer to the Winter Games though. He competed in the 2006 Torino Games and the 2010 Vancouver Games – earning a bronze and gold medal, respectively. He is an 11-time member of the team after first competing with them in 2003 while still a teenager at Poteet High School in Mesquite, Texas, where he graduated in 2005.
The U.S. Sled Hockey Team was ranked 34th on a list of the top 100 Olympic stories to follow during these winter games. The team became the first team to win back-to-back world championships in 2009 and 2011. And, with their gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games, the team hopes to bring home back-to-back gold medals which would make them the first team to do so at the Paralympic Winter Games.
With the bar set so high and history waiting to be written, Lipsett says they aren't feeling any extra pressure. “I think we put enough pressure on ourselves to prepare and train for Sochi that anything from the outside isn't really getting to us,” he said. “We're just focused on playing our game.”
Lipsett, who also works full-time for Bank of America as a portfolio manager, says he has been practicing twice a day, several times a week, leading up to the Paralympics. About five to 10 days of each month he is able to train with his team but 90% of his training is done outside of the team.
All these achievements were never imaginable at a young age for Lipsett who has osteogenesis imperfecta, more commonly known as brittle bone disease. Lipsett experienced broken bones more than 100 times and spent most of his childhood with some sort of cast on his lower body.
Cheryl Lipsett, Taylor's mother who lives in Forney, also said she never imagined her son competing at such a high level. As a matter of fact, doctors told her when Lipsett was just five years old he would never be able to play sports. Now, she said, “Seeing USA across his chest makes me very proud. It makes me proud of his accomplishments.”
After graduating Poteet High School in 2005, Lipsett went on to earn his bachelor's degree in finance at Southern Methodist University in 2009 where he was also named a National Collegiate Scholar. He now lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife, Kathleen.
Among his highlights: six-time International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship medalist; three-time IPC World Sledge Hockey Challenge medalist; two-time Japan Para Ice Sledge Hockey Championship finalist; 1st place in 2013 USA Hockey Sled Cup; 1st place in 2007 USA Hockey Disabled Festival; tri-captain of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in 2012 and 2013; alternate captain for U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012; and an 11-time member of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team.
“I believe in miracles and I have a miracle,” said Cheryl Lipsett. “I have a miracle right here.”
The opening ceremonies for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games are on March 7, 2014, with competition beginning on Saturday, March 8, 2014.
The U.S. Sled Hockey Team was ranked 34th on a list of the top 100 Olympic stories to follow during these winter games. The team became the first team to win back-to-back world championships in 2009 and 2011. And, with their gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Games, the team hopes to bring home back-to-back gold medals which would make them the first team to do so at the Paralympic Winter Games.
With the bar set so high and history waiting to be written, Lipsett says they aren't feeling any extra pressure. “I think we put enough pressure on ourselves to prepare and train for Sochi that anything from the outside isn't really getting to us,” he said. “We're just focused on playing our game.”
Lipsett, who also works full-time for Bank of America as a portfolio manager, says he has been practicing twice a day, several times a week, leading up to the Paralympics. About five to 10 days of each month he is able to train with his team but 90% of his training is done outside of the team.
All these achievements were never imaginable at a young age for Lipsett who has osteogenesis imperfecta, more commonly known as brittle bone disease. Lipsett experienced broken bones more than 100 times and spent most of his childhood with some sort of cast on his lower body.
Cheryl Lipsett, Taylor's mother who lives in Forney, also said she never imagined her son competing at such a high level. As a matter of fact, doctors told her when Lipsett was just five years old he would never be able to play sports. Now, she said, “Seeing USA across his chest makes me very proud. It makes me proud of his accomplishments.”
After graduating Poteet High School in 2005, Lipsett went on to earn his bachelor's degree in finance at Southern Methodist University in 2009 where he was also named a National Collegiate Scholar. He now lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife, Kathleen.
Among his highlights: six-time International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship medalist; three-time IPC World Sledge Hockey Challenge medalist; two-time Japan Para Ice Sledge Hockey Championship finalist; 1st place in 2013 USA Hockey Sled Cup; 1st place in 2007 USA Hockey Disabled Festival; tri-captain of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in 2012 and 2013; alternate captain for U.S. National Sled Hockey Team in 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012; and an 11-time member of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team.
“I believe in miracles and I have a miracle,” said Cheryl Lipsett. “I have a miracle right here.”
The opening ceremonies for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games are on March 7, 2014, with competition beginning on Saturday, March 8, 2014.