Para cross-country skier David Chavez chases history for El Salvador

El Salvador is set to make history next month at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games, marking the first time an athlete from the country will compete at either the Winter Paralympics or the Winter Olympics. 

David Chavez is preparing to accomplish something no athlete from El Salvador has done before. The Para cross-country skier has spent the season shifting between the snowy tracks of the northern hemisphere and the sun‑soaked beaches at home, training to become the first athlete from his country to compete on the biggest stage.

While athletes from the country have competed at seven Paralympic Games, with Para powerlifter Herbert Aceituno winning El Salvador’s only medal, a bronze at Tokyo 2020, the nation has never appeared at a Winter Games.

That will change if Chavez takes the start line at the Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium. 

“I feel excited and very happy because it was one of my dreams,” Chavez said. 

“I wanted to go to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in Para athletics, but I couldn’t. I never stopped thinking about being at the Paralympics,” he said. “Representing El Salvador and being the first Paralympic Winter Games athlete fills me with pride.”

Making history

Chavez, who competed in his first Para cross‑country skiing race in 2023, is among the athletes who benefited from an International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Competition Support Grant. The support, part of the Sport for Mobility programme, is designed to increase access to international events for athletes with disabilities.

Thanks to this support, Chavez and teammate Jonathan Arias could travel to Norway and competed at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Trondheim 2025.

By competing at the highest level, the athletes made history by securing one qualification slot for Milano Cortina 2026, ensuring that NPC El Salvador will appear at a Winter Games, Olympic or Paralympic, for the first time. 

Chavez stressed how essential this support has been. 

“It’s important because with that support, I managed to qualify for the Paralympic Games and with that support, we can qualify for many competitions,” he said. 

“Being the first athlete from El Salvador to go to the Winter Games – I think I’m putting El Salvador’s name high.”

Overcoming challenges

Chavez’s journey into Para sport began after a life‑changing event. On 7 January 2015, he survived a shooting during an attempted robbery. A bullet severed part of his spine, resulting in paralysis in part of his body.

“The first (challenge) was being able to accept myself as a person with a disability. Then sports came into my life when I entered a rehabilitation centre in El Salvador,” Chavez recalled. “I met a coach who asked me if I wanted to play wheelchair basketball. I said ‘yes’.”

“From then on, I never left sports.” 

He competed in wheelchair basketball before also taking up Para athletics, Para surfing, Para climbing, and now Para cross‑country skiing.

From experiencing snow for the first time in 2023 to competing internationally, Chavez has shown that elite performance is possible even for athletes from non‑traditional winter sport nations.

“I love the adrenaline – the speed. I really like extreme sports. I like exploring what I can do with my body, to what level I can reach,” he said.

“I think my most competitive discipline is skiing, and I’ve been able to develop a bit better and achieve good results.”

Sand skiing

Chavez’s unique training environment has become an important part of his progress. While he spends part of the year on snow, some of his hardest sessions take place somewhere unexpected - a sunny Pacific beach in El Salvador.

The training centre at Playa El Cocal includes a wheelchair‑accessible ramp to the sea and functions as a high‑performance base for Chavez and Arias.

“At El Cocal beach, sometimes there’s rocks, and sometimes sand. When there’s sand, we take advantage to train on the beach,” Chavez said. “The sand sticks to the skis, making it hard to move. That’s pure strength training and after that, we can relax in the pool.” 

His coach, Rob Powers, who founded the nongovernmental organisation OneTeam El Salvador that support Para athletes, calls the beach training their competitive edge. 

“It’s 10 times harder to ski on sand than on snow,” Powers said. “We live on Playa El Cocal, so we live on the coconut beach at our training centre that we built. We drink a lot of coconut juice, Salvadoran coffee and we ski on the beach. That’s ours secret.” 

Since joining OneTeam, Chavez’s training has expanded from one or two weekly sessions to a full programme of 11 workouts per week focused on technique, speed, strength, and endurance. 

Competing against the best Para athletes in the world has also shaped his development. 

“I admire (their technique). I just say, ‘I want to be like them.’ And every time I get closer, I think, ‘I want to be better than them,’ little by little.”

Road to the Paralympics

Chavez now enters the final stretch of preparations. The next weeks include training on the beach before the team heads to Italy for Milano Cortina 2026. 

“I don’t want to imagine it because I want to be surprised in the moment,” he said when asked about his expectations. “I watched Tokyo 2020. It was exciting and the vibe at those Games must be very strong.

“At Milano Cortina 2026, I think there will be quite a few people supporting El Salvador. I will have my own crowd.” 

As Chavez prepares for El Salvador’s Paralympic debut, he hopes his journey encourages others to begin theirs. He believes the first step for anyone who acquires a disability is acceptance.

“You start to feel motivated to move forward, and that’s when sports come in. You meet good people, they give you positive thoughts, and that positivity gets into your heart and mind, physically too, and you want to do the sport.

“It doesn’t matter where or how. You can always do it with fluidity and achieve your goal, and show people that disability has no limits.”

Looking beyond 2026, Chavez already knows how he wants to contribute to the future of winter sports in his country. He hopes to help others experience the transformational power of Para sport, just as Para cross-country skiing changed his own life.

“I want to train other people from El Salvador. If I can do it, they can too. And not just one or two winter athletes from El Salvador; there could be many more.”

Secure your tickets for the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games  

Milano Cortina 2026, which takes place from 6-15 March 2026, is set to be the most beautiful Paralympic Winter Games yet. Ticket prices start at EUR 10 for children under 14, with approximately 89 per cent of the tickets available for EUR 35 or less.

For more information, please visit tickets.milanocortina2026.org