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Most Paralympic athletes live relatively normal lives when they’re not competing.
Tyler Turner isn’t most athletes.
The decorated Para snowboarder spent the summer following his second straight world title competing on The Amazing Race Canada — a fitting adventure for someone who skydives, BASE jumps and makes a living as a parachuting instructor in the off-season.
For Turner, who finds peace in extreme sports, the high-stakes chaos of a snowboard cross final is the kind of setting where he feels most at ease.
“My heart rate when I jump out of an airplane is lower than when I’m driving on the highway. I find serenity in it; it’s my meditation,” Turner told CBC Sports.
The self-described “adrenaline enthusiast” from Campbell River, B.C., enters Milano-Cortina with a target on his back as the reigning champion and gold-medal favourite, but Turner is uniquely equipped to handle the pressure and stay focused on his main goal: to have fun.
And when Turner is having fun, the other racers are in trouble.
“My friends call me the ‘fun hog,’ that’s my nickname — if I’m out having fun, then I’m dangerous. So I need to find the best way to just be snowboarding,” Turner said.
It’s never a dull moment with Tyler Turner, who finds fun in everything he does with a community of friends and family behind him every step of the way.
Winning formula
It’s been a winning formula for the 37-year-old double-amputee, who has continued to soar since becoming Canada’s first-ever Paralympic gold medallist in snowboard cross four years ago at his debut Games.
Competing in the men’s SB-LL1 (lower limb) classification, Turner has been nothing short of dominant in the years since Beijing, completing a three-peat with his second and third world titles, along with three straight snowboard cross Crystal Globes as the overall World Cup leader.
Turner’s most recent world-championship triumph came on home snow last year at the Big White Ski Resort near Kelowna, B.C. He was named the top male winter Para athlete for 2025 by the International Paralympic Committee following his standout season.
The trailblazing Turner was also named a co-captain of the entire Canadian Paralympic Team in Milano-Cortina.
Tyler Turner has defied expectations since his Para snowboard career took off. Now, with two Paralympic medals under his belt, he’s heading into Milano Cortina 2026 ready to have fun with his community behind him.
Pushing boundaries
Turner’s success is part of a mission to redefine what is considered possible, an intrinsic need to push boundaries that has always been a core part of his mental makeup.
“I love finding out what’s possible and where the line is. If I hit that line, I try and figure out if there’s a way we can move it a little bit,” Turner said. “It’s innate in me; I was born with this desire to push the limits. It’s become a pursuit of what’s possible as a human, not just as a double amputee.
“It’s just in there and it’s what I have to do. If I’m not doing that, then I don’t feel whole.”
Turner lost both legs below the knee after a skydiving accident in 2017 and faced a difficult road to recovery, but his desire to get back to the sports he loved gave him strength on the toughest days.
“My passion for sports and action sports was the motivating factor right away in the hospital,” Turner said. “I didn’t really want to live as an amputee; there’s no doubt about that. I didn’t really see a future.
“But when I thought about how I just want to skydive again, I just want to snowboard, I just want to surf — it gives you that motivation to put in the effort. It helped me show up every day, especially on the hard days of rehab.
In 2020, Turner became the first person with two prosthetic legs to fly a wingsuit, something he also did last month using Team Canada’s large quilted vest from Lululemon.
Para snowboarder Tyler Turner thought his opening ceremony jacket would make a good wingsuit. Turns out he was right.
Turner has also competed internationally in adaptative surfing at the world championships in Hawaii.
And that reality show he competed on? Against the odds, he and his now wife, Kayleen, were runners-up on the ninth season in 2023 despite competing in challenges that simply weren’t designed for people with prosthetics.
Turner said he constantly had to “adapt on the fly.”
“Adapting has become the biggest word in my life. My whole thing is ‘adapt and destroy.’ A lot of people are about ‘adapt and overcome,’ which has inspirational connotations, but I’m not here for a ribbon; I’m here to change the world. Adapt and destroy is how I live my life.”
Challengers to the throne
That mindset has helped him become the king of his sport, but the field of constantly improving competitors has been closing the gap.
Americans Noah Elliott, nearly a decade younger, and Mike Schultz, who took silver behind Turner in Beijing, have been the main rivals in recent years.
Last year’s snowboard cross Crystal Globe came down to the final race of the season in Steamboat Springs, Colo., with Elliott and Schultz finishing second and third, respectively, behind Turner.
“The target has been on my back for quite a few years now, and I think I figured out this year that I need to continue to move forward, because the field is coming quickly for me,” Turner said. “The best way to do that is just to relax and stop letting the stress and the pressure of what this has all become get to me.”
Veteran Chris Vos of the Netherlands is another name to watch, along with Turner’s young protégé Chase Nicklin, a 21-year-old Paralympic newcomer from Port Alberni, B.C., who enjoyed a breakout season.
Canada’s Para snowboard head coach, Greg Picard, said Turner has only gotten stronger from being challenged — a common theme in his life.
“The competition got stronger and he got second, third, or fourth place in a couple of races. That helped Tyler get even better because he learned where to be patient and where to push to make it happen. He is definitely an overall better athlete,” Picard said.
Canadian Paralympian Tyler Turner says he owes his life, and a gold medal, to advanced new sports prosthetics that enable movement deemed impossible just years ago. There’s now a growing push to make performance prosthetics cheaper for everyday Canadians.
He added that Turner had become a well-rounded snowboarder since 2022 by evolving into a more strategic racer.
“We’ve got a good tactician now in Tyler. We’re covered on all fronts — technical and tactical,” Picard said.
Turner also competes in the banked slalom event, earning bronze in Beijing.
He will defend his snowboard cross title on Sunday at Cortina Para Snowboard Park. The elimination rounds start Sunday at 6 a.m. ET and culminate with the final at 7:44 a.m. ET.
Turner was the top qualifier in his category on Saturday with a time of 51.72 seconds.
“That’s my bread and butter. I hope I can show up and do it again,” Turner said.
The banked slalom competition starts Saturday, March 14.
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