Chris Waddell
Chris Waddell serves as a track and field analyst for NBC Olympics’ coverage of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
With 12 Paralympic medals to his name, Waddell is the most decorated male monoskier in history. In addition, he’s one of a handful of competitors to have won World Championships in both winter and summer sports. Waddell competed in four Winter Paralympics, winning 12 medals and three Summer Paralympics, winning a silver medal in the 200 meters in Sydney.
Waddell was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Paralympics Hall of Fame in 2010. The Dalai Lama honored Waddell as an “Unsung Hero of Compassion” in 2005. People Magazine named him one of the “Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World” in 1998. Skiing Magazine placed him amongst the “25 Greatest Skiers in North America.” Middlebury College presented him with a Doctorate in Humane Letters. National Public Radio (NPR) named his 2011 commencement address to Middlebury College as one of “The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever.”
In September of 2009, Waddell became the first nearly unassisted paraplegic to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro. Waddell has appeared on Dateline, Oprah and 20/20. He is also the founder of the One Revolution Foundation and does his best to share the belief that, “It’s not what happens to you. It’s what you do with what happens to you.”
