Blind Skier’s Blindness Questioned by Officials

A blind skier whose championship performance inspired admiration and donations has been suspended from a ski program for the disabled by officials who suspect that she is partially sighted.

Julie Wallace, 25, of Flint insists the suspicions are unfounded and has threatened legal action against the ski officials. She said she has medical proof that she is totally blind and has leukemia and a brain tumor.

“She is so phenomenally better than anybody I have dealt with that that causes some immediate concern,” said Jack Benedict, director of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team.

The Grand County Sheriff’s Department in Hot Sulphur Springs, Colo., is investigating whether Wallace misrepresented herself to raise money from sponsors, Lt. Tom Nixon said.

Paul diBello, program director at the National Sports Center for the Disabled at Winter Park Resorts in Colorado, said today that the district attorney’s office and FBI are investigating, though neither agency would confirm that.

If Wallace is found to have misrepresented her disability, she won’t be allowed to compete in next month’s international disabled ski championships and the medals she has won will be taken away, diBello said.

Wallace has received contributions from several Flint-area sponsors, a spokeswoman there said.

Wallace predicted that the suspension will be lifted as soon as she supplies the team with additional evidence of her medical condition, although she said she is unsure that she wants to remain in the program. She said she will demand a public apology.

“They had no right suspending me,” she said.

She said they first confronted her with their suspicions Jan. 2. “They proceeded to tell me I didn’t have cancer, I wasn’t blind,” Wallace said. “They said, ‘You can’t be part of this team if you’re not blind.’ ”

DiBello said today that he has not yet received any medical proof from Wallace and that she will have to go through “a very, very stringent test” to verify her lack of vision.

Wallace began training in Colorado last summer after winning two gold medals during the U.S. Assn. of Blind Athletes national championships.

She appeared to be a strong candidate to compete in the international championships to be held at Winter Park next month, officials said.