Suamico wheelchair curler brings home gold, secures world championship qualification

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Suamico native David Samsa helped bring home the gold after leading Team USA in the World Wheelchair-B Curling Championships in Finland earlier this month.

Action 2 News first introduced you to Samsa in 2019 when he began training for the 2022 Paralympic Games.

RELATED: Going for the Gold: Suamico man trains for 2022 Paralympic games

“That is my first gold...first major trophy of any kind I have ever received,” said Samsa.

“Just trying to get there seemed to be the hardest part. We trained hard, COVID came, canceled. Reset the schedule, trained hard again, couple months later canceled again,” said Samsa.

Once they did make it, the team went for the gold.

“Our goal was to at least get a medal. We did place in the gold medal round, which we knew we were going to come home with a gold, which we were very happy about that, took the pressure off,” said Samsa.

He’s back on the ice, keeping his skills up for his teammates and country.

“Our players are in Wausau, Denver, Minnesota and Connecticut. So you practice on your home ice and then you get together and play together,” said Samsa.

Now, his sights are set on the World Wheelchair Curling Championship in Beijing this fall, a precursor to 2022 Paralympic Games.

“Worlds, you must accumulate enough points to move on to the Paralympics so that’s the next major hurdle,” said Samsa.

Click here to hear from his teammate Matt Thums.

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