Mike Minor

Mike Minor completed his set of prizes after winning gold in the men’s banked slalom SB-UL at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games.

He had already owned World Championship and World Cup titles entering his Paralympic debut.

His victory in PyeongChang came in dramatic fashion. After crashing out and settling for bronze in snowboard-cross, Minor appeared like he would leave PyeongChang without a gold. But with his final banked slalom run, Minor gave the performance of his career to clock his class’ fastest time that left him in tears at the finish area.

Initially working as a lift attendant at Copper Mountain in the USA, Mike Minor was asked on the USA’s Adaptive Action Sports team a year later in 2014. He did not take long to jump in the rankings and make the US Paralympics national team for the 2015-16 season.

A stellar full season in 2016-17 led to the World Cup crystal globe for banked slalom, and he went undefeated until the 2017 World Championships.

In Big White, Canada, he lost the gold to France’s Maxime Montaggioni in the banked slalom. But other than that, he dominated the season to earn the overall World Cup crystal globe, and also take the world titles in banked slalom and snowboard-cross.

It was no question he would be a consistent podium face after winning his World Cup debut in the banked slalom in Landgraaf, Netherlands. He went on to win same event in Big White, Canada, and also showcased his snowboard-cross skills by winning the World Cup in March that season in Les Angles, France.

Born missing a right forearm, Minor wore a prosthetic until he was five years old. He started skiing at the age of two, and four and a half years later he discovered snowboard.