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Adaptive Programs Councils Racing Stars Skiing with Disabilities

Adaptive Skiing – Spotlight on Jasmin Bambur

Jasmin Bambur

JASMIN BAMBUR

Sport:      Alpine Skiing
Height:   6-1
Weight:   187
Classification:   LW11, Sitting
Date of Birth:    Aug. 28, 1979
Birthplace:   Zrenjanin, Vojvodina, Serbia
Current Residence:   Granby, Colo.
High School:   Piedmont HS (Indian Trail, N.C.) ‘98
College:   University of North Carolina at Charlotte ‘03, International Business;  Middle Georgia College ‘01, Sports Medicine
Coach:    Kevin Jardine

 

Personal

When he was just 12 years old, Jasmin Bambur and his family fled Bosnia because of war. First they went to Kosovo, but as the situation there became more dangerous, Bambur’s father located a home in the United States for Jasmin through a high school foreign exchange program.

Bambur excelled in the U.S. and joined multiple sports teams in soccer, basketball and tennis before finding his passion in team handball. In 2000, Bambur played for the U.S. National Handball Team while enrolled as a student at Middle Georgia College.

One night after a long day of training, Bambur fell asleep at the wheel for only a moment, but his car crashed and he sustained a spinal cord injury which made him a paraplegic. Bambur struggled with depression after his injury, but a visit from 1992 Paralympic gold medalist Bert Burns opened Bambur’s eyes to adaptive sport. Bambur tried wheelchair tennis and basketball, along with waterskiing before he picked up skiing.

Bambur competed at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games for his native country of Serbia, to become the first ever winter Paralympian in Serbian history. In 2010 he was granted his U.S. citizenship, and he was named a member of the U.S. Paralympics Alpine Skiing National Team for the 2012-13 season.  Jas competed in the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, finishing 7th in the super-G and 17th in the giant slalom.

Jas is a former member of the Charlotte Ski & Snowboard Club in Charlotte, North Carolina and a racer with the Charlotte team and competed in Crescent Ski Council races.  Bambur and his wife Sarah have two daughters and live in Winter Park, Colo.   Jas is multilingual in English, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, and Macedonian.

Connect
Website: Teambambur.com

 

By Pat Harvey

President of Crescent Ski Council. Past President of Charlotte Ski and Snowboard Club in Charlotte, NC. Social Media Chair for Crescent Ski Council and the National Ski Council Federation.