From Dissertation to the Paralympics: How Nicole Zaino Used Her PhD to Become One of America's Best Sit Skiers

Before Nicole Zaino ever gripped a pole and fired across a groomed Nordic track, she spent years inside a university lab earning her doctorate in mechanical engineering with a focus on biomechanics. She studied moment arms and force vectors and the physics of motion. And then, almost on a whim, she sat down in a sit ski for the first time in February 2022 and something clicked. 

In just four years, Zaino has gone from a first-time sit skier to a member of Team USA at the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. That ascent has been fueled by physical training, application of her biomechanical knowledge, and a relentless commitment to training in Bozeman, Montana. A factor that underlies each of these pursuits is her mindset. 

Zaino approaches mental performance the same way she approaches a research problem: with rigor, curiosity, and a stubborn refusal to leave any variable unexamined. The result is one of the most methodical mental frameworks in Paralympic Nordic skiing today.

Ask Zaino how her doctorate shaped her skiing and she says with a smile, "Surprisingly enough, I actually feel like I use my PhD all the time. Both the hard skills and the soft skills.” 

From the Classroom to Skis

The hard skills (biomechanics, force angles, weight distribution through each poling cycle) inform how she thinks about technique. But the soft skills are where her athletic identity has been forged. 

“A PhD is so open-ended. Breaking down big goals into small, achievable steps gave me skills in time management, just trusting the process even when you’re not seeing progress on a daily basis. Chasing an athletic goal is actually a lot like getting a PhD.”  

Endurance sport is an exercise in delayed gratification. Zaino had already built the mental architecture for that through years of open-ended doctoral research with no guaranteed finish line.

Race Plan or Research Protocol? 

You’ll notice that there are no world records in cross-country skiing. The reason behind that being the lack of fixed conditions. No two courses are identical and the snow can change at a moment's notice. Zaino's response to all of it is to ruthlessly focus inward.

"If you don't focus on what you can control and how you attack the course — you're not going to last long. Or be very happy."

So as a student of sport, Zaino builds a race plan. She draws out the course, marks the key sections, identifies the climbs, the transitions, the recovery windows. So, when the pain arrives, she places mind over matter and her plan runs the show.

In the race itself, she narrows her world entirely.

"In the moment, I'm not thinking…Oh, I want to get to 20 minutes. I'm thinking: power through, go over the climbs, find the recovery. That's all I can control. And if you have a cue, it's a lot easier to sit with the pain."

The debrief is just as structured. Every race (good or bad) gets the same treatment: what went well and what needs work. Always both. 

"Even if it felt like a great race, there's still things I can improve. And even if it felt like a not-good race, there's still things I did well. There's always something. That's a large part of why I like it."

Training The Muscle of Mindset

Zaino works with a sports psychologist and sets mental performance goals each season alongside her physical ones. Upon reflection, she credits this practice as one of the most important decisions she's made for her career.

"The biggest thing I did for my career was getting set up with a sports psych a few years ago. I don't think I would have been as proud of my performances…or as happy and carefree at the Games… if I didn't have that."

In fact, her mental training goals vary from season to season. 

“It's very personal, what specifically I'm working on. But there’s always work to be done on the mindset piece. And I think mental training allows me to have fun during the races, because I've put in the work beforehand."

The mental framework only exists because of a decision Zaino made in late February 2023, just months away from defending her dissertation. She decided to find a part-time remote role, moved to Bozeman, Montana, and committed to training. Finding part-time remote work with a doctorate was not straightforward. Her summary of it is pure Zaino: "It wasn't easy. But I did it."

"When else would I have the opportunity in my life to just try and trust myself? And just see what happens."

Three years later: Zaino has notched her first World Cup, first World Championship, top-10 finishes against the planet's best sit skiers, and most recently, her Paralympic debut for Team USA in Milano Cortina. 

At the center of everything, is her love for the process, a methodological approach to training mindset, and a relentless level of self-belief.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

I'm Amy Wotovich and I am on a mission to interview 100% of Team USA's 2026 Olympic and Paralympic athletes to create the most comprehensive mindset record of a single Games cycle. What do elite competitors actually believe about pressure, identity, failure, and joy? Nicole Zaino is one of hundreds of athletes sharing their unfiltered answers. Follow the journey!