Owen Pick from Red Lodge named in Great Britain's snowboarding team for Paralympic Games in Beijing

An amputee Afghanistan veteran from Red Lodge has today been named in Great Britain’s snowboarding team heading to Beijing.

Owen Pick will represent his country once more in Snowboard Cross and Banked Slalom, which will begin on March 4.

The 30-year-old left school at the age of 16 to pursue his boyhood dream of joining the Army.

Just three months into his first tour of Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, he stepped on and detonated an IED.

He woke up in hospital two days later to find his heel, foot and shin were completely shattered. He was just 18 years old.

He battled for 18 months to keep his leg but eventually made the life-changing decision to have his right leg amputated below the knee.

“The doctor gave me three options; one to keep my leg, not operate any further and just deal with it; two to have another operation where there was a 50/50 chance it would work and if not, amputate or three, amputate straight away," Owen said.

“I ended up speaking with lots of people who had either kept it or amputated as I was faced with a huge decision at the age of 19.

"There were a lot of different options but overall, the people that had been through with the amputation were just happier in themselves.”

It was during his rehabilitation that he took his very first step on a snowboard during a ski trip to Colorado ten years ago, thanks to military charity Blesma, the Limbless Veteran.

The charity has supported his career ever since.

“That trip started everything," he said. "My first experience on a snowboard was horrible.

"I spent the initial three days with my face in the snow. But by day four, everything just clicked. The hard work paid off."

After practising more and competing in World Championships and Cups all over the globe, the snowboarding sensation made his paralympic debut at the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics in 2018, when he was chosen to carry the flag at the opening ceremony.

While he walked away 'gutted' with his ninth position result in both banked slalom and boardercross, he focused on his mental game during training and turned everything around in 2020 to be crowned Dew Tour winner and was banked slalom world champion before the pandemic stopped all training.

Now he said he is ready to prove himself again.

“I definitely feel calmer going into the Beijing Games," he said. "I’ve experienced what it’s like to not do as well as I want to and be a Paralympic Games so I’m not as nervous.

"My aim is to enjoy it. If I’m enjoying myself, then nine times out of ten the results show for that.”

“I can’t thank Blesma enough for taking me on that first ski trip. I couldn’t have dreamed of competing for GB after having my leg amputated.”

Owen will be competing in the men’s SB-LL2 category in Boardercross on 6/7 March and Banked Slalom on 12 March at the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, which start on Friday 4 March

For more information on Blesma, go to: www.blesma.org