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 (), 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 ...

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 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 The Best Male Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award is an annual award honoring the achievements of a male individual from the world of disabled sports. Established with the aid of disability advocate and former United States men's Paralympic socc ...

. 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 1 ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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

Castaic Lake Castaic Lake (Chumashan languages, 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, California, C ...

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; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

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 and Evan Strong) 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

in 2014 and 2015. As a World Para Snowboard Championships 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 The 2018 Winter Paralympics (), the 12th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the Internation ...

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