Patrick Mayrhofer

{{Infobox sportsperson

|name = Patrick Mayrhofer

|image =

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|9|15|df=y}}

|birth_place = Helfenberg, Upper Austria

|nationality = Austrian

|residence = Vienna

|height = 173 cm

|weight = 65 kg

|years_active = 6

|sport = Snowboarding

|event = Snowboard Cross,
Banked Slalom

|disability_class = SB-UL

|coach = Jean-Claude Keipes, Mario Ratz

|website = {{Facebook|Snowboard.Patrick.Mayrhofer}}

|medaltemplates=

{{MedalCountry | {{AUT}} }}

{{MedalSilver | 2018 PyeongChang | {{nowrap|Banked slalom SB-UL}}}}

| show-medals = yes

}}

Patrick Mayrhofer (born 15 September 1987){{Cite web |title=Athlete Profile — Patrick MAYRHOFER |url=https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/PWG2018/en/snowboard/athlete-profile-n3047895-patrick-mayrhofer.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319084919/https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/PWG2018/en/snowboard/athlete-profile-n3047895-patrick-mayrhofer.htm |archive-date=19 March 2018 |access-date=18 March 2018 |publisher=PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games}} is Austria's most successful Paralympic Snowboarder. He won Silver in the Banked Slalom at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, Gold in the Banked Slalom at the 2015 World Para Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain, and Silver in the Banked Slalom at the 2019 World Para Snowboard World Championships in Pyhä, Finland.

In 2015 he was honored as the Paralympic Austrian Sports Personality of the Year ({{langx|de|Behindertensportler des Jahres}}).

Biography

Born in Helfenberg, Upper Austria in 1987,{{Cite news |date=4 November 2015 |title=Mayrhofer ist Behindertensportler des Jahres |language=de |work=MeinBezirk.at |url=https://www.meinbezirk.at/rohrbach/sport/mayrhofer-ist-behindertensportler-des-jahres-d1533244.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319084827/https://www.meinbezirk.at/rohrbach/sport/mayrhofer-ist-behindertensportler-des-jahres-d1533244.html |archive-date=19 March 2018}} Mayrhofer had been snowboarding since childhood. He worked as an electrician until an accident in February 2008, when he guiltless touched a 6000-volt power line, causing serious injury on his right upper leg, left forearm and right hand. On his right hand the thumb and parts of the middle finger needs to be amputated.

After several unsuccessful attempts to reconstruct the function of his left hand Mayrhofer decides to amputate his left hand. His surgeon Dr. Oskar Aszmann from the University of Vienna worked close together with the prosthesis technology company Ottobock. So Mayrhofer became the first patient in the world to undergo elective amputation. His left hand was amputated around {{convert|17|cm|abbr=in}} below the elbow in July 2010. After this, he was fitted with a groundbreaking prosthesis, known as a "Michelangelo Hand",{{Cite news |last=Sruthi Pinnameneni |date=6 July 2011 |title=Europe's first bionic hand still going strong a year on |publisher=Deutsche Welle |url=http://www.dw.com/en/europes-first-bionic-hand-still-going-strong-a-year-on/a-15213846 |url-status=live |access-date=18 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319085314/http://www.dw.com/en/europes-first-bionic-hand-still-going-strong-a-year-on/a-15213846 |archive-date=19 March 2018}}{{Cite web |date=13 March 2018 |title=Patrick Mayrhofer |url=https://www.ottobock.com/en/paralympics/athletes/patrick-mayrhofer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319084758/https://www.ottobock.com/en/paralympics/athletes/patrick-mayrhofer/ |archive-date=19 March 2018 |access-date=18 March 2018 |publisher=Ottobock}} The elective amputation allows Mayrhofer to control the prosthesis in the same way as non-amputees do:{{Cite news |last=Neil Bowdler |date=18 May 2011 |title=Bionic hand for 'elective amputation' patient |work=BBC News Online |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13273348 |url-status=live |access-date=18 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180307215216/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13273348 |archive-date=7 March 2018}} EMG electrodes in the prosthesis detect muscle signals within the lower arm which can be used for prosthesis control.

He can open bottles, tie shoelaces and brush his teeth within a short period of time. After the amputation, he worked closely with Ottobock's R&D department giving feedback to the engineers; in 2013 he joined the company as a product specialist in upper limb prosthesis.{{Cite web |date=5 June 2015 |title=Pilots of the Cybathlon: Patrick Mayrhofer |url=http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/cybathlon-news/2015/06/pilots-of-the-cyathlon-patrick-mayrhofer.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321063347/http://www.cybathlon.ethz.ch/cybathlon-news/2015/06/pilots-of-the-cyathlon-patrick-mayrhofer.html |archive-date=21 March 2018 |access-date=20 March 2018 |publisher=Cybathlon, ETH Zurich}}

Paralympic sport

Visiting a prosthetics trade show in 2012, Mayrhofer saw a stall run by the Austrian Paralympic Committee, which led to him deciding to pursue para-snowboarding.

At the 2015 World Para Snowboard World Championships at La Molina, Spain, Mayrhofer won the gold medal in the Banked Slalom{{Cite web |date=28 February 2015 |title=2015 IPCAS Para Snowboard World Championships La Molina: Men's Banked Slalom SB-UL |url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms/web/calendar/sb/result/SBWI15SBMBSL01010000100 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325045425/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms/web/calendar/sb/result/SBWI15SBMBSL01010000100 |archive-date=25 March 2018 |access-date=24 March 2015 |publisher=International Paralympic Committee}} and came fifth in snowboard cross.{{Cite web |date=24 February 2015 |title=2015 IPCAS Para Snowboard World Championships La Molina: Men's snowboard cross SB-UL |url=https://www.paralympic.org/sdms/web/calendar/sb/result/SBWI15SBMSBX01010000100 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325105756/https://www.paralympic.org/sdms/web/calendar/sb/result/SBWI15SBMSBX01010000100 |archive-date=25 March 2018 |access-date=24 March 2015 |publisher=International Paralympic Committee}}

In the 2018 Winter Paralympics, he competed in both snowboarding events, coming fifth in snowboard cross on 12 March{{Cite web |date=12 March 2018 |title=Medals and Ranking — Men's Snowboard Cross SB-UL |url=https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/PWG2018/en/snowboard/medals-and-ranking-men-s-snowboard-cross-sb-ul.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317164751/https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/PWG2018/en/snowboard/medals-and-ranking-men-s-snowboard-cross-sb-ul.htm |archive-date=17 March 2018 |access-date=16 March 2018 |publisher=PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games}} but then winning the silver medal in Banked Slalom four days later.{{Cite web |date=16 March 2018 |title=Medals and Ranking — Men's Banked Slalom SB-UL |url=https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/PWG2018/en/snowboard/medals-and-ranking-men-s-banked-slalom-sb-ul.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317164824/https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game-time/results/PWG2018/en/snowboard/medals-and-ranking-men-s-banked-slalom-sb-ul.htm |archive-date=17 March 2018 |access-date=16 March 2018 |publisher=PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games}}

At the 2019 World Para Snowboard World Championships at Pyhä, Finland, Mayrhofer won the silver medal in the Banked Slalom.

= Competition history =

class="sortable wikitable"

! scope="col" | Date

! scope="col" | Location

! scope="col" | Competition

! scope="col" | Placing

! scope="col" | Discipline

! scope="col" | {{abbr|Class|Competition class}}

! scope="col" | Team

! scope="col" | Best time

! scope="col" class=unsortable| Ref

style="text-align: right;" | {{dts|2019-03-30|format=dmy}}

| {{sort|Pyhä|{{flagicon|Finland}} Pyhä, Finland}}

| World Championships

| style="text-align: center;" | 5

Patrick Mayrhofer

Biography

Paralympic sport

= Competition history =

Personal life

References

External links