David Michael Mirra (April 4, 1974 – February 4, 2016) was an American BMX rider who also competed in rallycross racing. He set the record for most medals in BMX Freestyle at the

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

(later tied by

Scotty Cranmer Scotty Cranmer (born January 11, 1987) is an American BMX rider. He is tied with Dave Mirra for the most X Games BMX Park medals with nine, three each in gold, silver and bronze over fourteen appearances. He attended Jackson Memorial High Sc ...

) and earned at least one BMX medal at the event in all but one year from the competition's inception in 1995 until 2009. He also competed for several years with the Subaru Rally Team USA as a rallycross driver. Mirra rode for and was fully sponsored by

Haro Bikes Haro Bikes Corporation is an American BMX and Mountain bicycle manufacturer which was founded in 1978 by Bob Haro. The Haro bikes were considered Freestyle BMX bikes. History Haro Designs The company was founded in 1978 by Bob Haro, who ...

from the mid-1990s until he started his own bike company. He was a member of the team which won the 2014

Race Across America The Race Across America, or RAAM, is an ultra-distance road cycling race held across the United States that started in 1982 as the Great American Bike Race. RAAM is one of the longest annual endurance events in the world. All entrants must prove ...

four-person male (under 50) category. Mirra died by suicide on February 4, 2016. He was inducted into the BMX Hall of Fame on June 11, 2016.

Early life

Mirra was born on April 4, 1974, in

Chittenango, New York Chittenango is a village located in Madison County, New York, United States. The village is in the southern part of the Town of Sullivan. The population was 5,081 at the 2010 census. Chittenango is the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, author of ' ...

. He graduated from

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''California State Polytechnic University, Pomo ...

(Cal Poly Pomona). In the 1990s, Mirra's brother, Tim, moved to Greenville, North Carolina, to attend East Carolina University. Dave moved to Greenville soon after. Fellow professional BMX rider

Ryan Nyquist Ryan Nyquist (born March 6, 1979) is an American professional BMX rider with 16 X-Games medals, 39 X-Games competition starts and 60 Dew Tour finals appearances (most all-time). Nyquist is considered one of the greatest and diversely skilled ...

moved in with Tim. Mirra and Nyquist became quick friends and would build and ride ramps together. Greenville is now home to over twenty professional BMX riders. This gave Greenville the nickname "Protown" in the BMX community.

Career

While still living in Chittenango, Mirra joined the

BMX team in 1987, at the age of 13. Video producers Plywood Hoods featured him in their videos in 1988. Mirra gained a sponsorship from

Vision Street Wear Vision Street Wear is an American apparel company focused on BMX and skateboarding. Started in 1976 by Brad Dorfman, the company sponsored early skateboarding greats such as Mark 'Gator' Rogowski, and Mark Gonzales. Although the company is most ...

in 1989. He was also sponsored by

GT Bicycles GT Bicycles is an American company that designs and manufactures BMX, mountain, and road bicycles. GT is a division of the Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings, which also markets Cannondale, Schwinn, Mongoose, IronHorse, DYNO, and RoadMaster bicyc ...

through 1991, and then joined

Hoffman Bikes Hoffman is a surname of German and Jewish origin. The original meaning in medieval times was "steward", i.e. one who manages the property of another. In English and other European languages, including Yiddish and Dutch, the name can also be spell ...

in 1992 before re-signing with Haro in 1994. Mirra turned professional in 1992. He won at least one medal at the

in every year from 1995 through 2009, with the exception of 2006, after being injured during a practice run. In 2005, Mirra won the

Best Male Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award The Best Male Action Sports Athlete ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male athlete from the world of action sports. It was first awarded as part of the ESPY Awards in 2004 after the non-gender-specific Best Action Spo ...

. He tied

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documen ...

and

Joe Parsons Joe Parsons (born January 21, 1988 in Yakima, Washington) is an American snowmobiler who, as of January 2017, has won 17 medals at the Winter X Games Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after ...

as the fastest to reach 14 X Games medals, and his 24 total medals at the X Games stood as a record until 2013. He shares the record for most gold medals at the Summer X Games, with a total of 14 (tied with

Bob Burnquist Robert Dean Silva Burnquist (; born 10 October 1976) is a Brazilian-American professional skateboarder who competed for Brazil throughout his career. In 2010, he became the first skateboarder to land a "fakie 900" (900-degree reverse-natural r ...

and

Jamie Bestwick Jamie Bestwick (born 8 July 1971 in Nottingham, United Kingdom) is a British BMX rider. He won 13 gold medals in the BMX Vert event at the X Games, and one gold medal for Vert Best Trick. He started riding BMX with his friends at 10 years ol ...

). He retired from BMX riding in 2011. Dave Mirra Subaru

From 2008 through 2013, Mirra competed in rallying and rallycross as a member of Subaru Rally Team USA. He had a career-best fourth-place finish during the

2013 Global RallyCross Championship The 2013 Global RallyCross Championship was the third season of this championship. The season consisted of nine weekends, three in X Games events (including a doubleheader after an event cancellation). Toomas Heikkinen earned his first series cham ...

. Mirra became interested in Ironman competitions, competing in his first

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

in March 2013. He qualified for the 2014 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. Mirra's success took him to numerous outlets besides riding his bike, such as hosting two seasons of MTV's ''

Real World/Road Rules Challenge ''The Challenge'' (originally known as ''Road Rules: All Stars'', followed by ''Real World/Road Rules Challenge'') is a reality competition show on MTV that is spun off from two of the network's reality shows, '' The Real World'' and ''Road ...

.'' He is featured in the ''

Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX ''Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX'' is a sports video game series that was originally developed by Z-Axis and published by Acclaim Max Sports. Neon Studios originally developed the handheld port before Full Fat took over developing the handheld ports. ...

'' video game series and more recently appeared in the 2009 video game '' Colin McRae: Dirt 2''. He published a photo-biography titled "Mirra Images", and was once one of ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' magazine's "50 Hottest Bachelors". In the mid-2000s, Mirra signed an endorsement deal with

DC Shoes DC Shoes is an American company that specializes in footwear for action sports, including skateboarding and snowboarding. The company also manufactures apparel, bags, accessories, hats, tshirts, and posters. History The company was founded in ...

after leaving Adidas. With his friends in 2007, he started his own bike company called MirraCo.

Personal life and death

Mirra and his wife, Lauren, had two daughters. Mirra contracted

bacterial meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, headache, and neck stiffness. Other symptoms include confusion or ...

in 2010. He recovered before resuming rally racing. On February 4, 2016, Mirra died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in Greenville, North Carolina, at the age of 41. Authorities responded to a reported suicide and discovered his body inside his black Ford F-150 Raptor. He had reportedly been visiting friends in the area. Allen M. Thomas, the mayor of Greenville, called Mirra "a great friend and wonderful human being." Mirra was posthumously diagnosed with

chronic traumatic encephalopathy Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated trauma to the head. The encephalopathy symptoms can include behavioral problems, mood problems, and problems with thinking. The disease often gets worse ...

(CTE). In addition to the "countless"

concussions A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

he suffered during his career, his skull was fractured when he was hit by a car at 19 years old, and he also competed in

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

as an amateur. He became the first

action sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...

star to be diagnosed with the

neurodegenerative disease A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

. Mirra's wife chose to support several charitable causes in her late husband's memory, including CTE research
Road 2 Recovery Foundation
an
More Than Sport
City officials in Greenville, North Carolina, are working on plans to create an action sports park to honor Mirra's legacy. The first phase would include both skate and BMX facilities.

Racing record

Complete FIA World Rallycross Championship results

Supercar

Complete Global RallyCross Championship results

Supercar

References

External links

*

OXY Nation Website, Dave Mirra Video

The Last Days of Dave Mirra
- Matt Higgins, Outside, February 17, 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirra, Dave California State Polytechnic University, Pomona alumni 1974 births 2016 deaths BMX riders X Games athletes American male cyclists Global RallyCross Championship drivers People from Chittenango, New York Sportspeople with chronic traumatic encephalopathy Suicides by firearm in North Carolina World Rallycross Championship drivers 2016 suicides Cyclists from New York (state)