Joshua Sweeney (born June 6, 1987) is an American gold medal

ice sled hockey Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 ° C, 32 ° F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally occu ...

player and

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

recipient who competed in

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Par ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Early life

Sweeney's passion for hockey began at an early age, as he played

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

during middle school & competed in his high school team. A graduate of

Ironwood High School Ironwood High School is a public secondary school located in Glendale, Arizona, United States, part of the Peoria Unified School District. The school opened in August 1986 with its first graduating class in 1989. Since 2005, it has offered th ...

's class of 2005, he shortly enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Military life

In September 2009, Sergeant Sweeney was deployed to Afghanistan for his second deployment as a

scout sniper United States Marine Corps Scout Sniper ( MOS 0317, formerly 8541) was a secondary MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) designator of U.S. Marine Corps infantrymen and reconnaissance Marines that have graduated from a U.S. Marine Corps Scout Sn ...

to Nowzad,

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. On October 28, 2009, while on patrol duty, Sgt. Sweeney was injured when he stepped on an IED. The blast severed both his legs & caused injury to his left hand & arm. He had to wait 2 hours to be evacuated.

Paralympic career

In 2014, Sweeney joined Paralympic sled hockey team and lost 2–1 to the Russians. Couple of days later, he scored the only goal with which his team won a gold medal in a final against the same country. In 2022, Sweeney competed in Beijing in Para-nordic skiing making him a two-time Paralympian. A native of

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, he lives in Nampa, Idaho.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Joshua 1987 births Living people 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 Ice hockey people from Arizona United States Marines United States Marine Corps personnel of the Iraq War United States Marine Corps personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Paralympic medalists in sledge hockey Paralympic sledge hockey players for the United States