| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitor for United States | ||
| Ice sledge hockey | ||
| Paralympic Games | ||
| Gold | 2010 Winter Paralympics | Tournament |
Alexi Salamone (born 17 June 1987, in Bryansk, Russia) is an ice sledge hockey player from the USA.[1]
Salamone was born near Chernobyl, the site of a nuclear accident that took place 14 months prior to his birth.[1] As a result, Salamone was born with deformed legs both of which were amputated at the Children’s Institute of Prosthetics in Moscow when he was only four months old.[2] Orphaned, he was adopted by the Salamones, a couple from Buffalo, New York, and moved to the United States at the age of six.[1][3]
Salamone was introduced to ice sports by the Skating Association for the Blind and Handicapped (S.A.B.A.H.).[1] He has been a member of the U.S. national sledge hockey team since 2003, twice representing his country at the Winter Paralympics.[4]
At the 2006 Winter Paralympics in Turin, Italy, Salamone was part of the American team that won the bronze medal.[2] The United States featured in Group B of the tournament and won two of their three group games; 3–0 against Japan and 6–1 over Sweden. A 1–2 defeat in the match against Germany meant the USA faced Group A winners Norway in the semi-finals. The team lost that match 2–4 but went on to beat Germany 4–3 in the bronze medal match.[5]
As a part of the United States national team he won a bronze medal at the 2008 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships, held in Marlborough, USA and won a gold medal at the 2009 Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic.[1]
In 2010 he competed at his second Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, where USA won gold. They beat Japan 2-0 in the final.[2] Salamone scored the first goal in the final and overall had four goals and four assists in five matches.[6]