The Olympic Skier Competing with Type 1 Diabetes

Being diagnosed at 19-years old with type 1 diabetes wasn’t going to stop Kris Freeman from competing on the world’s biggest stage.

From krisfreeman.net

At age 19, Kris Freeman was preparing to compete in his first Winter Olympics. As a part of his athletic training, the cross-country skier underwent a routine blood test. To his surprise, the results did not come back as he expected.

“I was with the U.S. Ski Team at the time,” Kris Freeman recalls. “They performed monthly blood screenings to make sure we were handling our training properly and didn’t have any deficiencies— so they did a test on glucose and mine was twice the normal level.”

The diagnosis was a complete shock for Freeman since he wasn’t showing any symptoms of the disease.

“The first two endocrinologists that I visited basically told me that no one [with this disease] had ever competed at the Olympic level in an endurance event, or just that it couldn’t be done; that I could continue skiing but not at an international level,” recounts Freeman. “That was a really crushing thing to hear.”

Despite the diagnosis and assessment from the endocrinologists, Freedman took it upon himself to learn as much as possible about diabetes over the next few months. He eventually found a doctor who supported his goal to continue competing as a cross-country skier and through a lot of hard work and with the support of his family, coaches, and various doctors, Freedman has since risen to become one of the best skiers in the world.

“The last few years have been tough with some pretty public setbacks with my diabetes,” says Freeman. “But, I’ve been able to stay positive and maintain my nutrition and overall diabetes management, which has helped me tremendously. I want to show everyone, especially children, that they can and should keep reaching for their dreams.”

Thanks to advancements in medicine, Freedman is able to easily monitor his blood glucose throughout the day and artificially maintains his blood sugar with insulin injections. Freedman asserts that he has to measure his blood glucose up to six times a day to ensure he stays in a healthy range and doesn’t risk experiencing hypo– or hyperglycemia.

Since his diagnosis, Freedman has won 15 national ski championships and has become a four-time Olympian. His story proves that by properly managing the disease, anyone can learn to overcome the diagnosis and thrive with diabetes.