In December 2008, “Monster” Mike Schultz was a professional snocross rider at the top of his game—an X-Games competitor with five national podium finishes in the previous four years. While racing in the Super Stock class of the Amsoil Championship Snocross event in Ironwood, Michigan, he lost control of his machine on the side of a mogul and wiped out, damaging his left leg so severely that he chose to have it amputated four days later rather than live with the mangled, low-functioning limb it had become.

On July 28, Schultz proved that he was back in the saddle—this time, the saddle of a motorcycle—when he took first place in the 2010 X Games Moto X Super X Adaptive Final, his first gold in a major competition. “It feels great to come back and compete after my injury at Winter X Games one and a half years ago and showcase an exciting track like this one at the Coliseum,” Schultz told DirtRider magazine. “I wasn’t able to stand up on my prosthetic side so I lost a few places, but we pulled it off and ended up in the lead so it’s good.”

Todd Thompson followed just 1.555 seconds behind Schultz, capturing a silver medal, and Beau Meier pulled in seven seconds later for a bronze.