22/05/2026
Press Release
ONETEAMCF.org
For Immediate Release
Paralympic Champion Dan Cnossen Retires from Team USA-
Joins ONETEAM Colgan Foundation to Race in World’s Cross Country Ski Classics
Boston Massachusetts – May 2026 – Paralympic champion and retired U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander Dan Cnossen has retired from his competitive career with Team USA in Paralympic and FIS Para Cross-Country skiing following his participation in the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. He is joining
ONETEAMCF.org as a key ambassador and leader to open new pathways for Para athletes in the world’s Cross-Country Ski Classics series. Cnossen’s vision is to create sustained post-Paralympic opportunities for elite Para athletes, advancing equal access in endurance sport while promoting lifelong health and fitness. Through this partnership, ONETEAMCF will collaborate directly with Ski Classics organizers to deepen awareness of Para Cross-Country skiing and showcase the exceptional capabilities of athletes like Cnossen. The Ski Classics Pro Tour, launched in 2011, currently has no official Para division, adaptive category, or dedicated para system. Para athlete participation has been
limited and sporadic, driven primarily by individual Pro Teams like Team Aker Dæhlie. Cnossen has himself competed in half a dozen of these races over the years, but. always as a side note to his focus on the shorter distance events held at the
Paralympics. This initiative by ONETEAMCF.org and Dan Cnossen represents a pioneering step toward establishing structured opportunities and broader inclusion for Para athletes in one of endurance skiing’s premier long-distance series. “Competing at the Paralympic level gave me a mission and a team — the same drive that defined my time as a Navy SEAL. I believe that retirement from the Games doesn’t mean the end of a mission for Para athletes. Continued high-level racing through opportunities like the Ski Classics is a way for many to maintain a purpose driven life, setting new goals, continuing to push physical capability, and keeping mental resilience. It keeps us Para athletes strong, healthy, and contributing long after the
Paralympics - I want to be a driving force behind Para inclusion in the Ski Classics” said Cnossen. A four-time Paralympian (Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022, and Milano Cortina 2026), Cnossen is one of Team USA’s most decorated Para Nordic athletes with seven Paralympic medals (2 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze). His performances across four
Paralympic cycles have set historic firsts and elevated American Para Nordic skiing on the world stage. Cnossen will work directly with Rob Powers, founder and president of ONETEAMCF.org. A U.S. Army Mountain Warfare Infantry Soldier and Officer in the 1980s, Powers competed on the U.S. Biathlon Team and Armed Forces Sports Teams while serving. He transitioned to coaching in 1990, beginning at the University of Vermont before joining the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team. For 15 seasons (1990–2005), he served as Assistant U.S. Nordic Combined Team Coach and Director of Service Teams, supporting athletes at the Olympic, World Championship, and World Cup levels. Following his U.S. Ski Team tenure, Powers founded ONETEAMCF.org in 2006 and later established ONETEAM El Salvador. There, he serves as Director/Head Coach for the El Salvador Paralympic Committee, building the country’s Paralympic sports infrastructure from the ground up—including pioneering Para cross-country skiing, surf, climbing and rowing programs. In just two years' time he introduced two young Salvadoran men, both paralyzed from gang violence to Para cross-country ski racing and qualified both for the Milano/Cortina Paralympic Winter Games.Overseeing this effort is Powers, partner in philanthropy and founder of the Colgan Foundation and ONETEAM El Salvador, Sean Colgan, a U.S. Congressional Gold Medal recipient and member of the famed 1980 U.S. Olympic Summer Games Team (Men’s Rowing Eight). Following his athletic career with USA Rowing, Colgan built successful international businesses while leading extensive philanthropic endeavors in sport, wildlife and environmental conservancy. “Everything I have done over the past 16 years has been in part thanks to Sean.” Says Powers, adding “Having Sean guiding this new effort to showcase Para athletes in their
life after Paralympics through competition in the world’s greatest cross-country distance ski races is going to be not only exciting, but incredibly fulfilling for all involved. This powerful collaboration merges Cnossen’s elite athletic excellence across four Paralympic cycles with Powers’ decades of high-performance mentor coaching and Para sport development under Colgan’s oversight — to bridge Para Cross-Country skiing with the mainstream Ski Classics, fostering greater inclusion and post-career pathways for Para ski racers.
About ONETEAMCF.org
ONETEAMCF.org is a all volunteer non-profit dedicated to supporting disabled persons inclusion, veterans, and adaptive sports worldwide, with a focus on resiliency, mentorship, and creating meaningful opportunities for continued positive personal growth.
