Multiple sclerosis tried to bench her. Karen Smith won gold instead

By Jessica Severin de Martinez,

Megan Fitzgerald, Robyn Doyon-Aitken , Chion Wolf

Published March 6, 2026 at 11:36 AM EST

Karen Smith stands for a portrait at a Gaylord Wolfpack practice, a para ice hockey team she manages at Choate Rink in Wallingford on March 1, 2026.

At 74, Karen Smith is still chasing the feeling she fell in love with as a kid: the freedom and aliveness of playing sports.

After years of sudden pain and uncertainty, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - news that could have ended her life in athletics. Instead, adaptive equipment helped her keep skiing, and it reshaped how she carried the diagnosis.

Through the Gaylord Sports Association, she helped expand a program now offering 17 adaptive sports, and she became a gold medal-winning goalie on Team USA’s women’s sled hockey team.

Karen Smith portrait with members of the Gaylord Wolfpack, a para ice hockey team she manages at Choate Rink in Wallingford on March 1, 2026. She’s been involved in the sport for the past 23 years, and was a player for 17, including time on the U.S. Women’s national team. She says on the ice, whether someone is able-bodied or differently abled, “everyone’s an athlete.” “You feel the sameness,” she said.

At Choate Ice Rink, she and veteran player Anthony Kuntz introduce Chion to sled hockey, and to Karen’s fierce belief in inclusion and the “dignity of risk.”

Suggested episodes:

GUESTS:

Karen Smith: Team manager of the Gaylord Wolfpack sled hockey team and a longtime leader in Connecticut’s adaptive sports community. In her early 60s, she earned the starting goalie position on Team USA’s Women’s Sled Hockey squad at the first IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Women's International Cup in 2014, winning gold alongside teammates decades younger
Anthony Kuntz: Gaylord Wolfpack sled hockey player from Colchester, Connecticut, who has spina bifida. He has 22 years of experience in the sport, including four on the U.S. Junior National Team, competing internationally in Vancouver during the 2010 Paralympic Games

Jessica Severin de Martinez, Meg Fitzgerald, and Robyn Doyon-Aitken contributed to this show, with help from interns Divina Cortero and Megan Rodriguez-Hawkins.

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