Adaptive Winter X Games

The Winter X Games are extending its fitness and wellness opportunities to individuals with physical disabilities. According to Mike Schultz, creator of the Moto knee, “It’s kind of unlimited.” Mike, also known as Moto Mike, created the Moto knee as an adaptive prosthetic made for hardcore, impact sports. It allows for adaptive sliding, bending, and jumping. With MonoSkis and other adaptive gear, athletes like Josh Duek (2011 Mono X Gold Medalist), Andrew Kurka (Alaskan Sit-Skier), Evan Strong (Boarder X), and Moto Mike, can compete in sports that they might not have otherwise had the opportunity to compete in.

As a future Physical Therapist, I was truly inspired to see the determination these athletes possess which allows them to accomplish these amazing athletic feats. I can only imagine what they go through to train for the intense competition of the Winter X Games. Josh Duek solidifies their capabilities by saying, “You just go 100%, all the way.” Adaptations to the equipment and to the prosthetics used, along with their positive attitudes, allow these athletes to give their ‘all’ on the mountain slopes.

It is important to include individuals with disabilities in the Winter X Games because they are fully capable beings. The ultimate take-away is that the disabled must be allowed the right to compete, to fall, to fail, to suffer, to cry, to curse, and to despair – to protect them from these experiences is to keep them from life. When athletes (disabled or not) engage in competition such as the Winter X Games, they show others that you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to!