Rico Roman (born February 4, 1981) is an American gold medal

ice sled hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilita ...

player and

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recipient from

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

who competed in

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 ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

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Early life

Roman, who is of Mexican American descent, graduated from Alpha High School in 2000 and joined

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

soon after. His left leg got amputated after he hit an

Improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mechan ...

while serving in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

in February 2007. After the injury, one of the Operation Comfort personnel have suggested him to join the

San Antonio Rampage The San Antonio Rampage were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League based in San Antonio, Texas. The Rampage was primarily owned by Spurs Sports & Entertainment throughout the team's existence. In 2020, the franchise was sold ...

sled hockey club where he later played from 2009 to 2011 seasons.

Career

In 2012 he joined

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and were founde ...

which he helped by winning the USA Hockey Sled Classic Division A Championship. From 2011 until now he serves on the

United States National Sled Hockey Team United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

and was a winner of the 2013 USA Hockey Sled Cup. In November 2011 he became a silver medal recipient at the IPC World Sledge Hockey Challenge and next year won gold at the same place, following by another silver in 2013. In 2012 he was awarded with a gold medal by winning the International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship and next year won a silver one at the same place. Prior to sled hockey he was quoted saying:

They asked me to come out and play sled hockey, and I was like, I don't come from a hockey state. I'm from Oregon. We don't play hockey there. How many Hispanics do you see playing hockey?

In 2014 he got another gold medal, this time at Sochi Paralympics.

References

External links

* * 1981 births Living people Sportspeople with limb difference American sledge hockey players Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Ice sledge hockey players at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2014 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Sportspeople from Portland, Oregon American sportspeople of Mexican descent Paralympic medalists in sledge hockey Paralympic sledge hockey players for the United States United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army soldiers {{Sledgehockey-bio-stub