Mike Shea (born March 31, 1983) is a retired American para-snowboarder. He won a silver medal at the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (russian: Зимние Паралимпийские игры 2014, Zimniye Paralimpiyskiye igry 2014), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an ...

in the inaugural

Snowboard cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

event. At the

World Para Snowboard Championships World Para Snowboard Championships, was played first time at 2015. Locations Medal table Medalists Men's events ;Snowboard cross SB-LL1 ;Snowboard cross SB-LL2 ;Snowboard cross SB-UL ;Banked slalom SB-LL1 ;Banked slalom SB-LL2 ;Bank ...

in the LL2 division, Shea won gold in the 2015 banked slalom event and bronze in the 2017 snowboard cross event. In 2014 and 2015, Shea was nominated for the Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award. Shea retired from snowboarding in 2020.

Early life

Shea was born on March 31, 1983, in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

to parents Michael and Cynthia Shea. Shortly after he was born, his family moved to

Castaic, California Castaic () (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community in the northwestern part of Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 19,015. For statistical purposes the Census Bureau h ...

where he attended Valencia High School for a little over a year and eventually graduated from Bowman High School. In September 2002, Shea was

wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboardin ...

Castaic Lake Castaic Lake (Chumash: ''Kaštiq'') is a reservoir formed by Castaic Dam on Castaic Creek, in the Sierra Pelona Mountains of northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, near the town of Castaic. The California Office of Environ ...

when the ski rope wrapped around his ankle and severed his leg below his knee. At the time, he was growing addicted to alcohol and painkillers which worsened following his accident. He eventually entered into rehab in 2007 and followed their 12-step program for being sober.

Career

Upon being sober, Shea opened a carpentry business where he created dog houses and custom entertainment centers. In 2010, he received a call from a coach from the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) informing him that the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

was considering adding competitive snowboarding events to the competition. As a result, he closed his business and relocated to Winter Park Resort so he could start training. Through his training, Shea competed in

at Winter X Games where he won a silver medal and, later, three World Championships. In 2014, Shea became a member of the "Three Amigos" (along with

Keith Gabel Keith Gabel (born July 20, 1984) is a Paralympic snowboarder originally from Ogden, Utah. Gabel competed for the United States at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and again in 2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 201 ...

and

Evan Strong Evan Strong (born November 13, 1986) is an American Para- snowboard cross racer who began his career in 2008. He is the gold medalist in para snowboard cross at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia and led the USA team to a sweep of the ...

) competing in snowboarding internationally for Team USA. He won the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup Title in February 2014 and earned a silver medal at the inaugural snowboarding event at the

. Upon winning the silver medal, he began earning endorsements and developed a career as an inspirational speaker. Later that year, the three also competed at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in their first-ever banked slalom Para-snowboarding event. As a result of his success, Shea was named a finalist for Team USA’s Male Paralympic Athlete of the Year. Shea was nominated for the Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award in 2014 and 2015. As a

competitor in 2015 for the LL2 division, Shea was first in the banked slalom event and ninth in the snowboard cross event. Shea reappeared at the World Para Snowboard Championships in 2017, where he won a bronze medal in snowboard cross and finished seventh in banked slalom. At the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

snowboarding events, Shea was fourth in banked slalom and fifth in snowboard cross. Shea officially retired from competitive snowboarding at the age of 37 in September 2020 due to health problems and chronic injuries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shea, Mike Living people 1983 births Sportspeople from California Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic snowboarders for the United States Snowboarders at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Snowboarders at the 2018 Winter Paralympics