NAGANO -- Before a car accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, Kazuya Murozuka had never skied in his life.
Now, 12 years later, Murozuka is preparing to compete as a cross-country skier in next month's Nagano Winter Paralympics. Murozuka, 33, is one of 11 physically disabled members of Japan's Paralympic cross-country ski team. He uses a "sit-ski," a chair mounted on a pair of skis.
The athlete is already a Paralympics pro. In 1996, he competed in Atlanta's Summer Paralympic Games, where he won a silver medal in the wheelchair marathon. "I can't say it's a good thing that I was injured, but I wouldn't be here today if I hadn't been," Murozuka said in an interview in Hakuba Village, Nagano, where his team was training for the upcoming competition. "My world has become so much larger since my accident," he added.