| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Joshua Sweeney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Williams AFB, Arizona, U.S. | June 6, 1987|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education | Ironwood High School | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Military career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allegiance | United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service/ | United States Marine Corps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years of service | 2005–2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rank | Sergeant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unit | 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Battles/wars | Global War on Terrorism | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards | Purple Heart | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Joshua Sweeney (born June 6, 1987) is an American gold medal ice sled hockey player and Purple Heart recipient who competed in 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
Sweeney's passion for hockey began at an early age, as he played ice hockey during middle school & competed in his high school team. [2] A graduate of Ironwood High School's class of 2005, he shortly enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
In September 2009, Sergeant Sweeney was deployed to Afghanistan for his second deployment [3] [4] as a scout sniper [5] to Nowzad, [2] Afghanistan.
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. [6]
In 2014, Sweeney joined Paralympic sled hockey team and lost 2–1 to the Russians. [7] Couple of days later, he scored the only goal with which his team won a gold medal in a final against the same country. [8] A native of Arizona, he is divorced and lives in Idaho. [9] He received a new specially adapted home from the Homes For Our Troops non-profit group in November 2014. [10]
The United States sent a delegation to compete at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A total of 50 U.S. competitors took part in all five sports. The American delegation included five former members of the U.S. military, including a veteran of the Iraq War and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) is a military unit whose primary mission is to support nationally and internationally ranked soldiers in participating on the U.S. Olympic team. The program is headquartered at Fort Carson, Colorado.
Steven Cash is an ice sled hockey player from the United States. Cash is in his 13th season with the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team since making his debut in the 2005-06 season. Cash plays goalie and was a member of the U.S. teams that won gold in the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi, and 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang. He was also part of the team that won the bronze medal in the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Torino.
Alexi Salamone is a Paralympian ice sledge hockey player from the United States.
Andrew "Andy" Yohe is an ice sled hockey player from United States. Yohe was team captain at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, where the USA defeated Japan by a 2-0 tally to win the gold medal.
Nikko Landeros is an ice sled hockey player and paralympic freestyle skier from the United States.
Joshua Pauls is an ice sled hockey player from USA and Member of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. He took part in the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, where USA won gold. They beat Japan 2–0 in the final.
Adam Glynn Page is an ice sled hockey player and Paralympic gold medalist. He won the gold medal with Team USA while competing at the 2010, 2014, and 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Rico Roman is an American gold medal ice sled hockey player and Purple Heart recipient from Portland, Oregon who competed in 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
Declan Farmer is an American ice sled hockey player and Paralympic gold medalist. Competing at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, he won a gold medal in ice sledge hockey at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Paralympics.
Paul Schaus is an American gold medal ice sledge hockey player and Purple Heart recipient from Buffalo, New York.
Kelsey DiClaudio is an athlete that participates in women's ice sledge hockey. A member of the United States women's national ice sledge hockey team, she competed in the first-ever IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Women's International Cup in 2014. Prior to competing with the national women's team, DiClaudio competed with men on the Pittsburgh Mighty Penguins.
Daniel Frank McCoy is an ice sled hockey player from the US and former member of the U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Dan took part in the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, where USA won the gold medal. The US defeated Russia 1–0 in the final. McCoy retired from international competition in 2018 but continues to play within North America on the Pittsburgh Mighty Penguins Sled Hockey Senior team where is a player/coach. See penguinssledhockey.org.
Tyler Carron is an American ice sled hockey player. Carron was born in Berthoud, Colorado. He is a bilateral amputee after a being struck by a car in high school. He won a gold medal with the American team at the 2014 Winter Paralympics and was also the member of the US ice hockey team which secured record 4th Winter Paralympic gold medal during the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Carron was banned for 18 months between March 2018 and September 2019 after testing positive for methadone at the 2018 Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang. He was also stripped of the gold medal won at the Games.
Ralph DeQuebec is an American ice sled hockey player. DeQuebec made his Winter Paralympics debut during the 2018 Winter Paralympics; winning gold in the mixed tournament.
Travis Dodson is a retired Marine and Paralympian from Deming, New Mexico. Dodson served in the United States Marine Corps and was wounded in action by a hand grenade in the Iraq War in 2007.
Noah Grove is an American ice sled hockey player. He was a member of the gold medal winning US team in para ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. Grove also played amputee football at the 2014 World Cup.
Luke McDermott is an American gold medal ice sled hockey player. He was a member of the gold medal-winning US team in Para ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Paralympics. His disability is an amputation due to an incident when he was a Marine in the Afghan War.
Joshua Misiewicz is an American ice sled hockey player. He was a member of the gold medal winning US team at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Paralympics. He was wounded in action while serving as a United States Marine Corps in the War in Afghanistan.
Bo Reichenbach is an American ice sled hockey player.