The prostheses of snowboarder Mike Schultz give him – and his competitors – a lead

There are few action athletes who know as well as Mike Schultz what it takes to win: how much it depends just as much on mental and emotional power as, sometimes more than, on physical strength.

Schultz was a motocross and snowmobile racer at the height of his abilities in 2008, when he sustained a knee injury that resulted in the amputation of his left leg above the knee. Learning to walk again with a prosthesis was the basis for Schultz; He wanted to return to the competition better than ever.

The hardships of participation in the sports he chosen did not match the standard prosthesis that Schultz used, and he soon learned that, in order to compete at his highest level, he had to build his own prosthesis.

He did that – what he called Moto Knee and Versa Foot – and founded a company, Biodapt, to produce them on a large scale as soon as he realized how hard adaptive sports needed better -performing equipment. He also learned snowboarding in 2009 – after his accident – and has since participated in two Olympic Games (Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022) and achieved 18 World Cup victories.

Schultz participates in the SB-LL1 class, or athletes who have a considerable limitation on one leg, such as an amputation above the knee (as Schultz does) or a considerably combined limitation on two legs.

Now most of his competitors also use biodapt equipment. Approximately 30 of the 42 athletes on the World Cup circuit currently use Schultz’s prostheses in the men’s and women’s classes of the lower limbs (LL1 and LL2), although not all 42 athletes are amputers.

On PyeongChang 2018, 15 athletes from six countries used biodapt equipment, which resulted in 11 medals, including Schultz’s gold in Snowboardcross and silver in banked slalom.

The number of athletes was in Beijing 2022, where Schultz took silver in the Snowboardcross, risen to 26 from 11 countries.

There is no doubt that the success of Schultz and other biodapt athletes on these Games in the minds of people has made a connection between equipment and snowboarding, but that is far from the only-or even primary-use of it.

“Many people see biodapt on TV during the Paralympic Games and consider it a snowboard bone, but that is just one of the many applications for our equipment,” said Schultz.

The most common use of biodapt equipment is not really snowboarding, but gym and fitness activities, such as crossfit and strength training. The next group with the highest use is snow sport, followed by motocross, wakeboarding and surfing.

Schultz also collaborates with military channels such as the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Brooke Army Medical Center and VA clinics to deliver equipment for soldiers who were injured during their service.

The originally designed Moto Knee and Versa Foot Schultz are now in the second generation. The equipment has become lighter and can be better adjusted by athletes who want to improve their performance.

And that is where Schultz, the competitor, against Schultz, the engineer, the business owner, the mentor can clash. At every World Cup event, athletes who use biodapt equipment turn to Schultz-sometimes in the gathering place just before the race starts-for advice and help with refining their equipment.

Schultz is always willing – even does his utmost to make himself available – and then stands right next to these athletes, hoping that his training and his experience will bear fruit and enable him to defeat them for a podium place.

Every amputant of the lower limbs of the American Para Snowboard Team uses biodapt equipment; American teammate Noah Elliott is the direct competitor of Schultz in the SB-LL1 class.

During the Snowboardcross World Cup in Lenk, Switzerland, on January 23, Schultz and Elliott both ended up on stage, leaving Schultz behind his 27-year-old American teammate for second place. (The results of the time trials were final, since the final was canceled because of the weather.)

At the Snowboardcrossrace in Lenk on January 24, Elliott achieved first place in the final and Schultz third. Schultz was the best qualifying match with a full second and had a bad start in the final, but penetrated and ended up on stage.

For Schultz it meant two stages in two days – a confirmation of his urge to continue to compete.

“I think about the larger whole; Yes, I am a competitor and I want to beat everyone against whom I stand in line, but my competitive career has a timeline, “said Schultz. “I want to leave a larger mark on the sport and improve the performance of everyone. That is a huge victory; That will last much longer than I get gold, silver, bronze, anyway. “

“It is hard to know that I do my best to make my competitors faster,” Schultz added chiningly. “So that means that as a athlete I have to work harder and be better prepared than she, and just have to perform as well as possible if it matters.”

Schultz considered withdrawing from the competition after Beijing 2022, especially because he has a satisfactory career as a driving force behind Biodapt.

But “Monster Mike” knows that he is not ready yet.

“I work with so many athletes around the world; That in itself is busy working with adaptive sports, especially snowboarding, “said Schultz. “The way Beijing finished was not satisfied at several levels. I will continue with the competitive side and continue to work with the athletes with biodapt. ”

If Schultz reaches his goal: qualifying for the Paralympic Games of Milano Cortina 2026, he will be 44 at the opening ceremony of the Games. He is already the oldest American snowboarder on the World Cup circuit.

“I certainly have to work harder for it, because it is just a fact that things do not work as quickly and as well as before, and we have a number of younger athletes who are very capable of the racing circuit in terms of technology. “Says Schultz.

“You throw in that young energy, that is difficult to keep up with. On the other hand, in all those years I have learned so much of my competitive career, which arise from my motocross, snowmobile racing and snowboard career. I can use the wisdom I have built over the years and make up for the young energy of some of these other athletes.