TAMPA, Fla. — Declan Farmer is one of the most decorated sled hockey players. The Tampa-native is going for a fourth straight gold with Team USA in the Winter Paralympic Games in Milan.
"It’s all the regular rules of ice hockey, full body contact, same rink size, same number of players on the ice; the differences are in equipment," Farmer said.
Farmer discovered sled hockey in Clearwater when he was eight years old.
"The Lightning have done a good job of growing the game through the Tampa area," he said. "I started playing sled hockey through the Lightning’s community program back in 2006."
It’s been a race to the top ever since.
Farmer is a bilateral amputee since birth — one leg above the knee, the other below.
"My parents let me develop that passion on my own," he said. "You can’t be forced into it. You have to have the desire to keep improving, that growth mindset."
The Berkeley Prep alum has become one of the top sled hockey players in the world. He was named to the U.S. National Team at 14 years old and made his Paralympic debut, and winning gold in the 2014 Sochi Games.
In Milan, Farmer is chasing his fourth straight gold medal and Team USA is going for five in a row.
"It definitely doesn’t get old," Farmer said. "It gets more exciting, the stakes get higher each time as the Paralympic movement grows and more people know about it. I’m committing more of my life and time into it."
The U.S. sled hockey team is the first and only team in Paralympic history to win four consecutive gold medals.
No team in Winter Olympic or Paralympic history has won five straight golds. Canada and the Soviet Union each won four golds in men’s hockey, while the Canadians have also won four straight in women’s hockey.
"We want to continue this streak for USA sled hockey, and for all the guys that were on the teams prior to us who started this movement," Farmer said.
Since joining the National Team in 2012, Farmer has tallied 420 points, by far the most in team history.
The U.S. sled hockey team will open the Winter Paralympic Games on Saturday against Italy in the preliminary round.
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