{"id":87863,"date":"2026-01-13T12:46:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T19:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=87863"},"modified":"2026-01-14T08:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:38:33","slug":"pueblo-dr-daniel-lee-champions-health-care-with-olympic-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/pueblo-dr-daniel-lee-champions-health-care-with-olympic-passion\/","title":{"rendered":"Pueblo’s own Dr. Daniel Lee champions health care with Olympic passion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Collins
Collins Lee, 3, grins at her dad, Dr. Daniel Lee, before taking a spin at the Pueblo Ice Arena recently. It was her first time on skates, and a homecoming of sorts for her dad, who trained at the rink as an Olympic hopeful before hanging up his skates and becoming a doctor in his hometown. Photo by Mike Sweeney, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dr. Daniel Lee<\/a> stepped onto the ice and glided toward the center of the rink, his feet crammed into the same black skates he wore more than two decades ago as a member of the U.S. Men\u2019s Figure Skating<\/a> team. It was a homecoming of sorts for Lee at the Pueblo Ice Arena<\/a> on a recent Saturday.<\/p>\n

This is where he spent countless hours in 4:30 a.m. practice sessions as a child and teen, perfecting his spins, leaps and triple axel and triple lutz jumps in hopes of someday winning Olympic gold.<\/p>\n

On a recent winter afternoon, Lee moved effortlessly across the ice with a small group of skaters: his wife, Dr. Kourtney Lee, and their three children.<\/p>\n

\"Lee
Lee and his family enjoyed a recent public skating session at the Pueblo Ice Area. Lee is holding Collins, with wife Kourtney, daughter, Calihan and their son, Cruz. Photo by Mike Sweeney, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super fun, lots of memories,\u201d Lee said as he circled the ice during the rink\u2019s afternoon open skate session.<\/p>\n

He executed a small jump and then gracefully powered himself backwards, standing out from beginners who shuffled on their skates and hugged the boards.<\/p>\n

The Lees\u2019 oldest son, Cruz, 12, held hands with his 5-year-old sister, Calihan, as they moved across the ice. She\u2019s been bugging her parents for skating lessons for months. Lee hung onto the \u201cpusher\u201d that 3-year-old Collins used on her first-ever outing on the ice.<\/p>\n

It was all giggles and rosy cheeks in the Lee family as they cheered when Collins later ditched the \u201cpusher\u201d and skated with her dad, hand in hand.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 22 years since Lee practiced on this rink and two decades since he retired from the sport that shaped who he would become after his skating career. The lessons he learned on the ice have served him well. Today, he works as a hospitalist at UCHealth Parkview Medical Center<\/a> and holds several leadership and committee positions for the hospital and UCHealth. He is passionate about the health care he provides for the people he considers friends and neighbors in Pueblo.<\/p>\n

But for a couple hours on that recent weekend day, he was just a dad skating with his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t get much better than this,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Lee
Lee was the U.S. Novice Men’s National Champion in 1997 and was training for the Olympic figure skating team before injuries ended his skating career in 2004. He is now a doctor at UCHealth Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo. Photo by Mike Sweeney, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lee takes to the ice at age five and excels quickly<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lee was five when he joined a \u201clearn-to-skate\u201d program at The Broadmoor hotel\u2019s World Arena<\/a>, the storied skating rink and club in Colorado Springs that launched the skating careers of such legends as Dick Button<\/a>, Jeremy Abbott<\/a>, Peggy Fleming<\/a> and Jill Trenary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not long after, his family moved to Pueblo, where his parents purchased a dry-cleaning business and liquor store.<\/p>\n

Lee took to skating, and by the time he was nine, he was competing in figure skating competitions \u2013 first regionals and then sectional competitions \u2013 which served as a gateway to national championship events.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s life revolved around available ice. Each weekday began with a 4:30 a.m. skating session at the Pueblo ice rink. From there, Lee went to school in town. Most days, he got out of school an hour early for the 40-minute drive to Colorado Springs, where he practiced at The Broadmoor from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Lee did homework on the drive home before starting the routine again the next morning.<\/p>\n

\"As
As a child, Lee spent hours on the ice in Pueblo and Colorado Springs, and he ranked among the top 30 men’s figure skaters worldwide in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But his parents never let the sport overshadow his education, and Lee went on to become a doctor, inspired by the doctors and physical therapists who helped him with skating injuries. Photo by Mike Sweeney, for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lee was competing at rinks all over Colorado \u2013 Denver, Vail and Colorado Springs \u2013 and also training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. In 1997, at age 14, he won the U.S. Men\u2019s Novice Championship, earning him a spot on the men\u2019s junior-level team. The next year, he placed fourth at the U.S. Men\u2019s Junior Championship competition and claimed his spot on the U.S. Figure Skating team. He placed fourth again in 2000.<\/p>\n

Despite Lee\u2019s focus on skating, his parents never let the sport overshadow the importance of school.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducation was always priority No. 1,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

Lee\u2019s parents wanted him to be as \u201cnormal\u201d as possible.<\/p>\n

That meant attending public school \u2013 though teachers always excused him from physical education classes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lee\u2019s skating career was taking him all over the world: from Norway to Ukraine, Mexico, the Czech Republic, Hungary and more. He ranked among the top 30 male skaters in the world.<\/p>\n

His goal?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always the Olympics,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n