Oyuna Uranchimeg proud to represent country where she was 'reborn' in Paralympics

Most Paralympians say that representing the country of their birth is one of the highlights of their athletic careers. The same is true, Oyuna Uranchimeg said, for an athlete wearing the colors of the nation where she was reborn.

Uranchimeg, of Burnsville, is part of the U.S. wheelchair curling team that will begin competition Saturday at the Beijing Paralympics. She thought her life was over in 2000, when she was in a car accident while visiting Minnesota. Paralyzed from the waist down, separated from her young children back in her native Mongolia, Uranchimeg peered into her future and saw no path forward.

"It was a terrifying, depressing time,'' she said. "I basically died that day. And then, I came back, reborn in America.''

In the Twin Cities, Uranchimeg found the support to create an entirely new life. She became a U.S. citizen in 2008, began a career in university administration and was reunited with her son and daughter, who were able to join her here after many years apart.

After discovering adaptive sports as part of her rehabilitation, Uranchimeg, 48, was introduced to wheelchair curling by a friend, Kyle Bauman. Six years later, she is competing at her first Paralympics, playing lead for a mixed-gender U.S. team of two women and three men.

The Americans proved their mettle before they even arrived in Beijing. They won the world wheelchair-B championship last April to qualify for the main world championships, where they needed to place in the top seven to qualify for the Paralympics. Uranchimeg's steady performance helped them to a fourth-place finish and a berth in the 11-nation Paralympic tournament.

The world championships were in Beijing at the "Ice Cube,'' home to the curling competitions at the Olympics and Paralympics. That tournament gave Uranchimeg a preview of how it would feel to represent the U.S. at the Beijing Games, where the Americans will seek their first Paralympic medal in wheelchair curling.

"This is the country where I built my life, where I raised my kids,'' Uranchimeg said. "My heart is still also in Mongolia, where I was born and raised. But a huge part of me is American.

"I am so proud to be an American, and so thrilled and honored to be able to represent the country in this way. It's a huge privilege.''

Uranchimeg is the only Minnesotan on the Paralympic wheelchair curling team. Bauman said she spends hours on the ice, often by herself, working on her shooting technique. In wheelchair curling, there are no sweepers, so each stone must be thrown with precise aim and speed.

Her determination and strength — augmented by a wide network of supporters — carried her to Beijing. Uranchimeg has a flexible schedule at St. Thomas, where she now works, to allow for training and travel. Bauman said her personal coach, Sandra McMakin, and local curling clubs also have played key roles.

"In the Twin Cities, Oyuna has access to clubs like Chaska, Dakota and Four Seasons, which are accessible to wheelchairs,'' he said. "That's a huge advantage that not all curlers have. She's also got a great work ethic, perseverance and grit.''

That same blend of personal will and wide support rescued Uranchimeg from her despair after her accident. Only a week into her visit, she was a passenger in a car that rolled over, severing her spinal cord.

She was alone in an unfamiliar country. Her family, including two children under the age of 6, could not get visas to come see her. She couldn't imagine returning home to Mongolia, where there are few resources for wheelchair users.

"It was so difficult,'' Uranchimeg said. "You're away from everything you know. You don't understand what's happening with your body. I didn't even want to live.''

Social workers at Regions Hospital in St. Paul gave Uranchimeg hope, showing her how to navigate her new reality. She joined a wheelchair basketball team through Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute and later tried adaptive sailing and an adaptive circus program.

In 2016, Bauman invited Uranchimeg to lunch at Four Seasons Curling Club in Blaine. The U.S. wheelchair team was holding a training camp there, and he thought she might be interested in curling simply as a fun activity.

"I don't think we even ate lunch,'' he said. "As soon as she wheeled in the door, that was it. They got her on the ice that day.''

Uranchimeg said she was "hooked immediately'' on curling, and coaches quickly identified her as a prospect for the national team. Though she said it was a long road to the Paralympics, with the pressure to perform well in two major tournaments last year, she added that the U.S. has already shown it can beat many of the same teams it will face in Beijing. That gives her confidence the Americans can get onto the Paralympics podium.

Sports have enriched her life in many ways. Uranchimeg relishes the competitive outlet, and pursuing a place on the Paralympic team gave her an opportunity to set a lofty goal and see how close she could get.

She was a little surprised to make it all the way to Beijing only six years after her first turn on the ice.

"It's still surreal to me,'' Uranchimeg said. "I didn't know anything about curling a few years ago. This journey, and being able to represent the USA, it's been such an amazing experience.''