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| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  United States | |||||||||||
| Born | July 7, 1967 Chicago, Illinois, United States | |||||||||||
| Height | 5'10 | |||||||||||
| Weight | 230 | |||||||||||
Medal record
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Manuel Guerra Jr. (born July 7, 1967) is an American former ice sledge hockey player. He has won medals with Team USA at the 2002 Winter Paralympics and 2006 Winter Paralympics. [1]
His mother passed one week after he was born and contracted polio as an infant, leaving his left leg disabled. His father remarried and his step mother aided in his rehabilitation for his leg as a youth. As an adult he suffered from post polio syndrome from overuse of his healthy muscles and became depressed until at his wife’s urging tried disabled sports. Manny is divorced with four children and resides in Plymouth, Minnesota.
A love for the game of hockey since his childhood he would compete in his local area park hockey league and would wear a simple knee brace to counter the effects of instability along with a small 1” lift sole inside his left skate. He was introduced to the sport of sled hockey in 1991 by a local club in Minnesota and after playing for one season he received an invitation to attend the 1992 U.S. National Team Trials in which he was selected starting goaltender. As a member of the US Paralympic Team, which participated at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah ‐ Manny stopped Norway’s final three shots in a shootout preserving a 4‐3 victory and crowning Team USA champions of the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games and winning a Gold medal. Manny is a multi‐sport athlete and is regarded as one of the top athletes in wheelchair softball, basketball and Para Hockey (sled hockey) in the United States. He's won 5 World Series titles in wheelchair softball as a member of the St. Paul Saints 1991-2011 and Rolling Twins 2011-present.
Stefan Daniel Patryk Liv was a Polish-born Swedish professional ice hockey player who played as a goaltender. Liv played professionally in Sweden, North America and Russia. Liv played nine seasons for HV71 in the top-tier league in Sweden. He was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 2000 and played one season in the Red Wings organization, but never made his debut in the NHL. He then returned to Europe and HV71. Upon his return, he played three seasons in Sweden, then moved to Russia in 2010.
Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitation centre in Stockholm, Sweden, and played under similar rules to standard ice hockey. Players are seated on sleds and use special hockey sticks with metal "teeth" on the tips of their handles to navigate the ice. Playing venues use an ice hockey rink.
Kim Kristine Martin Hasson is a retired Swedish goaltender, currently working in the Linköping HC organization. With the Swedish national team she won two Olympic medals, bronze in 2002 and silver in 2006, and two IIHF World Women's Championships bronze medals, in 2005 and 2007. Martin Hasson played in the SDHL with AIK and Linköping HC, in the Russian Women's Hockey League with Tornado Dmitrov, in the NCAA Division I with the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, in the J20 SuperElit with the Malmö Redhawks’ junior men's team, and in the J18 Allsvenskan with Hammarby IF's junior men's team.
The United States sent 56 athletes to the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin, Italy, the largest delegation of any nation. Chris Devlin-Young, a 15-year veteran of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team and four-time Paralympic medalist in alpine skiing, served as the flag bearer at the opening ceremonies. ice sledge hockey player Lonnie Hannah, a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City and the bronze medal-winning team in Turin, was the flag bearer at the closing ceremonies.
Willard John Ikola is an American retired ice hockey player and high school boys' hockey coach. Born in Eveleth, Minnesota, a powerhouse in hockey he began playing hockey as a young boy, eventually going on to play in the 1956 Winter Olympics and coaching high school for over 30 years.
The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. The Winter Paralympic Games are held every four years directly following the Winter Olympic Games and hosted in the same city. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) oversees the Games. Medals are awarded in each event: with gold for first place, silver for second, and bronze for third, following the tradition that the Olympic Games began in 1904.
The Bay State Games are an Olympic-style athletic event for amateur athletes in the state of Massachusetts, which includes several divisions and allows athletes of all ages to compete. The Games are divided into Summer and Winter Games. The Summer Games include 25 sports and are usually held in late July. The Winter Games include three different sports and are usually held in late January or early February. The Bay State Games is a member of the National Congress of State Games. Kevin Cummings currently serves as executive director.
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.
Sweden sent 24 competitors to compete in all five disciplines at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Paralympic Winter World Cup is a biannual international multi-sport event where athletes with a disability compete. The World Cup has been hosted in Sollefteå, Sweden since 2009. It is organized by the Swedish Paralympic Committee (SPC) in coordination with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
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.
Joseph "Momo" Howard is an ice sledge hockey player from United States. Howard lost both of his legs at the age of 15. In 1982, he was introduced to ice sledge hockey, and competed in his first Winter Paralympics at the 1998. At those games, the USA came in seventh place but Howard set a record with six goals in one match. At the 2002 Winter Paralympics, Howard contributed with three points in a 5–1 defeat of Canada. In the gold medal game, After an overtime shootout victory, the Americans prevailed defeating defending champions Norway 4–3. Going undefeated (6-0), outscoring opponents 26–6 in the tournament. Joe was named MVP of the gold medal game. Scoring three goals and adding one assist. He was named a first team all-star. Howard's hard-fought first-place finish was extra special. He fulfilled a promise he made to his mother, who was unable to attend as she was ill with cancer, by winning the Gold. Following the USA's victory over Estonia, he proposed to his girlfriend of five years Carol Tribuna on the center of the rink. He took part in the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, where USA won gold. Going undefeated and not allowing a goal during the tournament, outscoring their opponents 19–0, They beat Japan 2–0 in the final. Howard had both assists, and helped earn his second Paralympic Gold Medal
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.
Billy Bridges is a Canadian ice sledge hockey and wheelchair basketball player. Born in Summerside, he has spina bifida. On July 1, 2011, Bridges married former Olympic women's ice hockey player Sami Jo Small. He competed at the 2022 Winter Paralympics, in Para ice hockey winning a silver medal.
STARskaters.org, a US Paralympic Sport Club, was founded by Sugar Land, Texas businessman Jim O'Neill in 2008. The organization is composed of Houston area volunteers, many of whom are hockey players, skating instructors, figure skaters, coaches and officials.
Yu Man-gyun is a South Korean sledge hockey goalkeeper who used to be a wheelchair basketball player. During his career, he scored 2.66 goals and did .815 percentage of saves. In 2013, his save percentage was .894 despite the fact that his team lost 5–2 to Canada at the 2013 World Sledge Hockey Challenge. In 2012, he won silver medal at the 2012 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships which was hosted at Hamar, Norway. Yu was a member of South Korea's bronze medal winning team in para ice hockey at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.
Rob Armstrong is a Canadian ice sledge hockey player.
The 2017 World Para Ice Hockey Championships for A-Pool teams was held in Gangneung, South Korea, from 11 April through 20 April 2017. The opening ceremony was held on 11 April and games were played from 12 April through 20 April, followed by the closing ceremony.
Aaron Pike is an American athlete who competes in wheelchair racing, biathlon, and cross-country skiing. He has competed at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics, as well as the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Paralympics. Pike finished second at the 2022 Boston Marathon, third at the 2021 and 2022 Chicago Marathons, and fourth at the 2018 and 2019 New York City Marathons as well as the 2021 Boston Marathon. He won multiple medals at the 2023 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships, including winning the 12.5 km seated event.
The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Paralympics took place on 4 March 2022 at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, China. The Games were opened by Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and President of China.
