Utah Paralympic athlete presented with prestigious Distinguished Eagle Scout Award

OGDEN — David Blair is best known for his world record discus throwing as a three-time Paralympic athlete. This past weekend, he added yet another prestigious award to his belt — Distinguished Eagle Scout.

On April 10, at a ceremony at Weber State University, Scouting America, more commonly known as the Boy Scouts, honored Blair with the highest award in Scouting. In fact, it's an award that has been given to only 2,000 Scouts since its inception in 1969.

The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award recognizes Eagle Scouts who "achieve extraordinary national-level recognition," and have a "strong record of voluntary service to their community." Recipients must also have received their original Eagle Scout award a minimum of 25 years prior to receiving the distinguished award.

"It was a surprise to me," Blair told KSL. "I was humbled that I'd be nominated, but to actually receive it was a real surprise and a great thing. One of the recipients this year was a Nobel Prize laureate. I was able to meet with one of the men from the national committee, and he said that they had several hundred nominations this year. There's great company out there who have received the award, and I'm humbled to be a recipient of it."

Some Distinguished Eagle Scout recipients include Gerald Ford, Neil Armstrong, Steven Spielberg and Utah's own J.W. Marriott Jr.

Blair, who lives in Eagle Mountain, was one of 17 recipients nationwide this year. There were also national and local presenters, including Calvin Carlson, who was Blair's scoutmaster when he was a youth. Carlson, who was there when Blair received his first Eagle Scout in 1992, spoke fondly of his time with the now Distinguished Eagle Scout.

"I started Scouting in 1984, and I've been doing it the whole time up until about two years ago," Carlson told KSL. "It's the first time I've been to a Distinguished Eagle Scout award. I was (David's) scoutmaster, and he was a great kid. It was really fun seeing him, and it's been great seeing all he's accomplished over the years."

Blair reflected on his decades in the Scouting program as a participant, leader and father.

"Growing up, I always enjoyed Scouting," Blair said. "It was part of growing up with boys in the neighborhood, and there is a lot of stuff I learned and took for granted that I didn't realize wasn't common knowledge.

"I spent 20 years as a scoutmaster, and I loved serving with the boys," he continued. "As a father of all daughters, it always bothered me that I couldn't have my daughters do Scouts. It's now open to boys and girls, which I think is great. I'm very happy to see that this has changed."

Blair said that a lot of what he learned in the Scouting program helped him build confidence through his own life challenges that began at birth, when he was born with a clubfoot. In fact, doctors told his parents that he would never be able to function normally as a child due to the severity of the deformity.

Scouting America acknowledged Blair's many accomplishments with engravings on the plaque, which outline his "longstanding leadership in Scouting," "overcoming life-changing injuries," and "represented the United States on the international stage."

Blair graduated from Weber State University, where he set six school records in the hammer, discus and indoor weight throws, competing against able-bodied athletes. He went on to compete in three Paralympic Games, including Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Tokyo in 2020 and Paris in 2024. He won a gold medal in 2016 and a bronze in 2024, both for discus.

Most recently, this past January, Blair fulfilled a lifelong dream of breaking an able-bodied American record in the discus for the 50-54 age group, throwing 21.12 meters. He said that this is the only time in American history that an athlete with a limb disability has broken an able-bodied American record.

Even with all of his accomplishments, Blair remained humble about it all. He said that his goal has always been to work hard and help others along the way, including serving as the president of the Utah Chapter of Olympians and Paralympians.

"Once an Olympian or Paralympian, you're always one, and we want to integrate them into the community," he said. "It's fun to get together as a group and do some service for the community."

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