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Despite missing a medal, the Juneau monoskier was pleased with his sixth-place finish.

"I'm not disappointed," said Tompkins in between signing autographs for the crowd of fans surrounding him at the finish. "I'm proud to just be here."

Following a period of anger and depression typical of those who become paralyzed, Tompkins discovered skiing at the Eaglecrest Ski Area adaptive program, which was started in 1980 by Bob Janes and the Juneau Lion's Club. With Janes' encouragement, Tompkins attended a disabled ski clinic run by Hal O'Leary from the National Sports Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, Colo.

As a former high school athlete from a family of athletes, Tompkins immediately took to skiing and within a year had moved from an Arroya sit-ski, a toboggan-like ski, to the more advanced monoski. When Tompkins developed an interest in competing, he set two goals, to make the United States Disabled Ski Team and to compete in the 2002 Paralympic Games. With these goals in mind, Tompkins moved to Colorado to train full-time at Winter Park.

During the years of training and competing, which included several injuries including two broken legs last season, Tompkins admits he came close to quitting. But when he called his dad, Bill, who was also an athlete, his dad said, "You're a Tompkins, and Tompkins don't give up."

Heeding his late father's advice, Tompkins didn't quit and, following the 1999 Nationals, he made the U.S. Paralympics Team.

"It's been a real success story for Joe," Janes said.

Tompkins' real time of 1 minute, 44:15 seconds, adjusted to 1:26.08 for his disability level, was 5.04 seconds behind the winning adjusted time of 1:21.04 posted by LW-11 Class gold medalist Eder Harald of Austria. Andreas Schiestl of Austria took the silver with an adjusted time of 1:22.03, and Fabrizio Zardini of Italy won the bronze with an adjusted time of 1:23.01.

Tompkins shared his teammates' victories as he watched LW-12/1 monoskiers Kevin Bramble take the gold and Chris Devlin-Young the silver in their class. Just two weeks ago, Bramble built Joe's new monoski, which replaced his old one that had been falling apart after three years of heavy use.

"That gave me confidence," said Tompkins, who says his new ski now feels comfortable.

Like his teammates, Tompkins had the support of his town and family in achieving his dreams. At the Paralympic Games, Tompkins' fan club includes five brothers and sisters from Juneau, his mom, an aunt and uncle from Canada, nine nieces and nephews, and his 14-year-old son, Donald. Several local businesses, including the Alaska Native Brotherhood chapters from Haines, Juneau and Auke Bay, helped Tompkins' family with travel expenses.

While Tomkins' older sister Maggie, who'd never seen her brother race before, described watching Joe's skiing as "awesome," his son said watching his dad compete was "cool," adding that he "knew he'd do well."

Maggie said just being at Thursday night's opening ceremonies and Saturday's race gave her goose bumps. Like others, Maggie notices the positive changes ski racing has made in Joe's life.

"He's more of a leader and role model for the kids," she said.

Saturday was a great day overall for the U.S. Team, which now leads the medal count with two gold, six silver, and three bronze. Germany won eight medals, including five gold, and Switzerland earned three gold.

Tompkins will have another chance at medaling when he skis in the Super G today. While he would still like to medal, just living his dream is already enough.

"I couldn't ask for better," he said.

Lori Batcheller is the author of "Alpine Achievement: A Chronicle of the United States Ski Team," which features the remarkable stories of Tompkins and his teammates and includes the history of disabled skiing and information on becoming involved. To order, call 1-888-280-7715 or visit the website at www.Lbcreative.com/aa.