Celebrating its ninth year, Extremity Games hosted its annual motocross event at the Baja Acres Motocross Park, Millington, Mich., on May 24.
Organized by Athletes with Disabilities Network, Extremity Games provides athletes living with amputations or spinal cord injuries a venue where they can compete peer-to-peer, limb-loss to limb-loss on an equal playing field.
Adaptive athletes were crowned in three categories: AMP–lower extremity; AMP–upper extremity; and Para (seated).
Returning Extremity Games champions Max Gomez from New Rochelle, N.Y. and Drake Smeltz from Westfield, Pa. each went 1-1 in the Amp–Lower and Amp-Upper class. Jesse Gildea from Van Wert, Iowa rounded out the gold medalists in the Para class.
“Extremity Games is a great thing,” Gomez stated in a press release. “These guys don’t get enough credit for the things they do. Riding with all your body parts is difficult as it is but to have missing ones and still be able to perform on a bike is incredible.”
“The Extremity Games motocross is the event of the year for me. It is a great place to be, both on and off the track with all the great people involved,” Jim Wazny told O&P Business News. “The level of competition is getting higher and higher each year. It is great to see it progress.”
Full list of winners:
AMP–lower extremity
1st place – Max Gomez
2nd place – Mike Schultz
3rd place – Jim Wazny
AMP–upper extremity
1st place – Drake Smeltz
2nd place – Harold Glissen
3rd place – Ryan Beesley
PARA
1st place – Jesse Gildea
2nd place – Tyler Frye
3rd place – John Harris
Extremity Games 10 is set for May/June 2015. Visit the Extremity Games Facebook page at facebook.com/extremitygames for more information.
