MOREHEAD, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Morehead, Kentucky, woman will represent Team USA in the 2025 Special Olympics in Italy for alpine skiing, and she's not letting her disability prevent her from winning the gold.
DesaRae Nickell, 32, has been skiing for 14 years. When asked if she was nervous about competing, she responded, "I'm not nervous. I'm excited. I waited so many years for it."
Nickell has been an athlete her entire life. She has tackled basketball, martial arts, and even pageants.
"For my confidence training for ski racing, actually, I was afraid to get out of the gate," says Nickell. And when I went there, she did tell me there was a pageant for me, and Miss Amazing is a pageant for girls and women with disabilities."
But her love for the snow has always been stronger.
Nickell knew something about her was different but could never figure out what. In high school, she was diagnosed with borderline intellectual functioning. This means Nickell functions on the border between normal intellectual functioning and intellectual disability. Five years ago, she was diagnosed with another disorder.
"I have a disorder called 3Q29 Microdeletion Syndrome, and most people don't know about that or what it is," explains Nickell.
According to medlineplus.com, at least 30 cases have been connected to this diagnosis. It's a partial depletion of chromosome three in each cell.
"It caused a lot of developmental delays and speech problems, and I didn't grow as much as my peers," Nickell explains.
After 27 years, she says her diagnosis was a release.
"To finally know what it was. I was really bullied in school, and I was actually sexually assaulted more than once, even after high school," Nickell confesses, "To be able to overcome all of that and, I worked very hard and trained to get where I'm at today."
Now she's training in the big leagues, several hours a day, five days a week.
"I would like them to know that it's just as hard in the Special Olympics as it is in that college level because it seems to be pushed aside," Nickell admits.
Nickell hopes to bring home the gold and make Kentucky and eastern Kentucky proud. She has already won several championships, including the 2023 NASTAR National Championship and the Lucky Racer Championship.
She also needs help raising funds to travel to Italy. One way you can help her meet her goal of $3,500 is by mailing a check to Special Olympics Kentucky 105 Lakeview Court, Frankfort, KY 40601-8749. The Olympics asks everyone to specify that the check is for DesaRae Nickell Winter World Games 2025.
Nickell will also soon be selling shirts to raise funds and meet her goal. Visit her Facebook page for more updates.
