In PyeongChang, South Korea, the clock is ticking down. The 2018 Paralympic sled hockey gold medal is on the line with the United States playing against Canada. Victory seems certain for Canada, as they have a 1–0 lead with just under 45 seconds remaining in the game.
Unfortunately for the Canadians, Declan Farmer ’20 had other plans. Farmer scored the game-tying goal with 37 seconds remaining to force the match into overtime. In OT, he did not take his foot off the gas, scoring the game-winning goal to give the U.S. its third consecutive Paralympic gold medal.
“I think that’s the best game I’ve ever played and one that will stick with me forever,” Farmer told The Daily Princetonian.
Farmer, who was born a bilateral amputee, has been at the forefront of Paralympic sled hockey for over a decade. He grew up in Tampa, Florida and has used prosthetics to walk since the age of one.
“I grew up really being an athletic kid,” Farmer told the ‘Prince.’ “I liked sports a lot and playing [sports] with my friends.”
Farmer played soccer, tee-ball, and frequently sailed as a child. At the age of eight, he found the sport of sled hockey, one he believed he could be more competitive in since there would be a level playing field.
“I would get frustrated by not being at the top of the game in the [other] sport[s] I was playing,” Farmer told the ‘Prince’.
When he started playing sled hockey, the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning sponsored a local team as part of their community outreach program. He was a member of the local team for a few years and played games within the state of Florida.
At 12 years old, Farmer attended his first out-of-state club tournament and played against top players in his age group. There, he began to discover his potential in the sport. During the tournament, Farmer also got to see Paralympians in playing action for the first time.
“That moment inspired me to see what the top of the sport could be like,” said Farmer. “I started going to the national development camps in the summer, eventually making the National Team at the age of 14.”
Today, as a National Team member for the last 11 years, Farmer has appeared in the last three Paralympics (2014, 2018, 2022), winning three gold medals in the process.
Farmer mentioned the challenges of public perception in being a Paralympic athlete, referring to the belief that paralympics .
Farmer stressed the frustration of a “kind of patronizing attitude towards disability. Our goal is to keep pushing back and show that sled hockey is on the same level as the highest forms of stand up hockey, and show that the Paralympics is just as impressive of an accomplishment.”
Farmer added that the sport has really grown since he started on the National Team, saying that he does not believe he would make the current National Team at the age of 14 as he had done before.
His first major tournament and accomplishment with the National Team came in the 2013 International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships. Farmer led the American team in scoring and finished the Championships with eight points.
At the Sochi Paralympics in 2014, Farmer helped the team win gold at the age of 16. He had three goals and five points throughout the tournament, which was tied for the team lead.
One of the defining moments of the 2014 run was the preliminary round loss to Russia — the first time the Russians had beaten the Americans in sled hockey.
“They won 2–1, [Vladimir] Putin was in attendance for it,” Farmer told the ‘Prince.’ “It was so loud in there.”
He described the loss as a turning point that helped the squad refocus and capture the gold medal with convincing wins in the knockout rounds of the competition.
His performances in these games helped Farmer earn the Best Male Athlete with a Disability Award at the 2014 ESPY Awards. He was also voted as the International Paralympic Committee’s Best Male Athlete of the Sochi 2014 Games.
Shortly after, Farmer graduated from Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, Fl. and started at Princeton University, where his four years as a Tiger began in 2016.
“I really loved Princeton,” Farmer told the ‘Prince.’ “I’m extremely grateful to the hockey department and [they] were very generous with ice time.”
During the 2018 Spring semester of his sophomore year, Farmer was preparing for the Paralympics. He took only three classes that semester thanks to his professors, who were flexible in providing extensions to allow him to fulfill his dream of representing the U.S. At the same time, the confines of Princeton’s Hobey Baker Rink served as the perfect venue for Farmer’s training.
Practicing at Baker Rink clearly paid off for Farmer, as he holds the American record in sled hockey for most goals and points in a single season across all competitions (24 and 41), a feat he accomplished in the 2017–2018 calendar year.
He led the U.S. to gold in PyeongChang and holds the Paralympic record for most goals, points, and assists during a single winter games.
“You get to do it with teammates you love, and guys from all these different backgrounds,” Farmer said when speaking about his Paralympic experience.
After graduating from Princeton as an economics concentrator in 2020, Farmer fully committed his time to the National Team. So far in his post-Princeton career, he’s won gold in the 2021 World Championships and in the 2022 Beijing Paralympics. Farmer hopes to continue playing for as long as he can.
“I just love the whole team,” Farmer added. “Some of my best friends are the guys on the team. I just can’t imagine what life would be like without being able to travel, have fun, and compete at the highest level with them.”
“We want to build the sport globally,” Farmer said. “We want to give back to the sport and grow programs around the world.” He also hopes to leave a mark on disability sports as a whole. “We want to help the next generation of disabled athletes succeed, that’s our responsibility to them.”
Hayk Yengibaryan is an assistant editor for the Sports section at the ‘Prince.’
Please direct any corrections requests to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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