Kirk Black
Before becoming paralyzed, Kirk Black was in the United States Army and was also an active athlete having raced motocross for twenty years. However, in 2007 he competed at the National Veteran Wheelchair Games in Track and Field and first came across a sport he had never seen before – curling. Soon, Kirk tried the sport and realized he loved it. However, he faced the struggle of not having anywhere to practice as a native Texan. Instead, he began to travel back and forth to Madison, Wisconsin. Although many say that curling often takes years to master, Kirk quickly excelled and went from novice to competing at the Paralympic Winter Games in only three years. He is also one of the oldest people competing and his nickname is “Grandpa” at forty-eight.
