The key facts

  • Adam Golebiewski lost both legs in 2024 at the age of 17 after a crash caused by a drunk driver
  • He has now qualified for international para-biathlon competitions and is preparing for World Cup stages in Finland and Sweden
  • Coach Simon Bate believes the 2030 Winter Paralympic Games could become a goal for him

From football goals to the ski trail

Twenty-year-old Adam Golebiewski from Aberdeenshire, whose career as a young goalkeeper was cut short after a serious crash, has found a new sport — para cross-country and biathlon. This is reported by BBC Scotland. The crash happened in 2024 in Macduff, when Adam was 17: the car in which he was a passenger hit a wall, and he required a double amputation below the knee. The crash was caused by a drunk driver — 19-year-old Arran Paterson, who admitted guilt in causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving while under the influence and driving without insurance. He was sentenced to 32 months in prison and banned from driving for five years and four months. Two other teenage passengers were also seriously injured.

A fast track into elite sport

After three months of rehabilitation at Woodend Hospital in Aberdeen, Adam was able to walk on crutches again and returned home by Christmas 2024. He now trains at the Huntly ski centre — next to the pitch where he used to play for the junior club Deveronside. With no previous experience in the sport, he has already qualified to compete internationally as a para-biathlete — a discipline that combines cross-country skiing and shooting. In recent months he has trained on snow in Colorado in the USA, in Italy, where he tried biathlon for the first time, and in Oberhof in Germany. He says that on his ski board he stops thinking about his injuries: 'I just feel such freedom and forget about everything else.'

The goal — the 2030 Games

For the next six months, Adam is aiming at the Para Biathlon World Cup stages in Finland and Sweden. His coach Simon Bate from Snowsport Scotland notes the athlete's impressive progress and maturity: in his view, the 2030 Winter Paralympic Games could become a future goal for Adam. Adam himself hopes to inspire other people going through hard times: 'Just give it a try, because you never know what might happen.'

Adam Golebiewski, a young man who has lost both legs, on skis in snow, he is smiling at the camera.Image source, Adam Golebiewski
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Adam Golebiewski has been able to train in snow

Adam Golebiewski, young man with both lower legs amputated, smiling and in a wheelchair in hospital.
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Adam needed a double amputation as a teenager two years ago

Adam Golebiewski, a young man who has lost both legs, on a board with wheels which allows him to ski, and he is holding ski poles.
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Adam has mainly been training on wheels

Adam Golebiewski, a young man who has lost both legs, on skis in snow, he is smiling at the camera.Image source, Adam Golebiewski
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Adam says he hopes to be an inspiration to others

A young man with short, light-brown hair, wearing a suit jacket. He is entering a courtTeenage boy with ginger hair and black T-shirt smiling at camera, a decorated Christmas tree behind him in the corner.Adam Golebiewski, in a wheelchair, with legs amputated below the knee