Dallas-area sled hockey player savors Paralympics victory

Taylor Lipsett was back at work Tuesday, still a little jet-lagged from his trip. He clutched perhaps the greatest souvenir of all from Vancouver, British Columbia – a gold medal.

By KAREL HOLLOWAY
The Dallas Morning News

Taylor Lipsett was back at work Tuesday, still a little jet-lagged from his trip. He clutched perhaps the greatest souvenir of all from Vancouver, British Columbia – a gold medal.

Taylor LipsettLipsett, a 23-year-old from Mesquite, plays left wing for the U.S. sled hockey team. The team shut out Japan, 2-0, in the gold medal match of the Paralympics on Saturday in Vancouver.

Lipsett said he's done a lot of interviews and the most common question is "How does it feel?"

"That's the one you can't explain," Lipsett said. "It hasn't really sunk in yet."

Sled hockey is just what the name implies. The players sit on small streamlined sleds that look a little like a snowboard on blades. They are raised so that the puck can pass underneath. Players use two sticks. Each has one end to shoot the puck, and one with picks that players use to push themselves across the ice.

The sport was developed in Sweden in the 1960s at a rehabilitation center. It has become one of the most popular sports at the Paralympics.

"We had sold-out crowds of 6,000 at every game," Lipsett said. . .

The Southern Methodist University graduate remains in Dallas, working in oil and gas wealth management for a subsidiary of Bank of America. As a Paralympics sponsor, Bank of America gives him time off to train.

Lipsett has osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bone disease. His bones are frail and can break easily, sometimes with no apparent cause. He can walk with crutches, but said he finds it easier to use a wheelchair.

Read the full story.

# # #