Mia Zutter (born July 16, 1999) is an American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

athlete who competes in

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe to heel. Re ...

in the B3 classification. She made her Paralympic debut at the 2018 Winter Games as part of the

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team.

Early life

Mia Zutter was born in

Fridley, Minnesota Fridley is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 29,590 at the 2020 census. It was first settled as a place named Manomin where Rice Creek flows into the Mississippi river and the Red River Oxcart trail crosses ...

, on July 16, 1999, to Michael and Jennifer Zutter. In 2011, Mia was diagnosed with

Stargardt disease Stargardt disease is the most common inherited single-gene retinal disease. In terms of the first description of the disease, it follows an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern, which has been later linked to bi-allelic ABCA4 gene variants ...

, which resulted in the loss of her central vision. This was shortly prior to her

seventh grade Seventh grade (also 7th Grade or Grade 7) is the seventh year of formal or compulsory education. The seventh grade is typically the first or second year of middle school. In the United States, kids in seventh grade are usually around 12–13 years ...

at school. She had already been involved heavily in running at the time, and continued to do so with the aid of a guide. In her

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

year at Sun Prairie High School in

Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sun Prairie is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 35,967 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, Madison and is part of the Madison metropolitan area. ...

, her story was covered by the ''

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of Septembe ...

'', which brought her to the attention of the Central Cross Country Ski Association. They offered her a place on their

development team, which she accepted with the support of her parents.

Athletic career

In January 2016, she competed in the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

Nordic Skiing Continental Cup at

Craftsbury, Vermont Craftsbury is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,343 at the 2020 census. The town includes the unincorporated villages of Craftsbury, Craftsbury Common, Mill Village, and East Craftsbury. History The state ...

, which also doubled as the US Paralympics National competition. She performed well, qualifying for a World Cup test event in Finesterau, Germany during the following month. Later that year in June, she was named to the US Paralympic Development Team. She continued to compete, seeking to qualify for the

2018 Winter Paralympics The 2018 Winter Paralympics (), the 12th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internation ...

. After her results at a World Cup event in

Canmore, Alberta Canmore is a List of towns in Alberta, town in Alberta, Canada, located approximately west of Calgary near the southeast boundary of Banff National Park. It is located in the Bow Valley within Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains. The to ...

in December 2017, she was informed at the end of the following January that she had been named to the

team to compete in three or four events. At the time of her selection, she was a student at the College of St. Scholastica. She is classified in the B3 class for Paralympic competition.

2018 Winter Paralympics

She made her Paralympics debut in the women's 15 kilometre cross-country event on March 12. She finished in eighth place overall, alongside her guide

Kristina Trygstad-Saari Kristina is a feminine given name and a variant of Christina (given name), Christina. Notable people and characters with the name include: People *the Swedish name of Christina of Sweden *Kristina (singer), Kristina (born 1987), Slovak singer *Kris ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zutter, Mia Living people 1999 births People from Fridley, Minnesota Sportspeople from Anoka County, Minnesota People from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Dane County, Wisconsin American female cross-country skiers American female biathletes Biathletes at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Paralympic biathletes for the United States Paralympic cross-country skiers for the United States Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Visually impaired-category Paralympic competitors American blind sportspeople 21st-century American sportswomen