American · Hanover, New Hampshire, USA · Born 1 November 1987American snowboarder and 2010 Olympic medal favorite whose career-ending traumatic brain injury during training, and the remarkable recovery that followed, was chronicled in the acclaimed documentary 'The Crash Reel.'
Kevin Pearce was born on 1 November 1987 in Hanover, New Hampshire, and raised in Vermont, the son of noted glass artist Simon Pearce. He rose quickly through the sport's ranks, winning back-to-back Arctic Challenge titles in 2007 and 2008, capturing two Air & Style rings, the 2007-08 Swatch TTR World Snowboard Tour championship, and three medals at the 2008 Winter X Games, where he became the first athlete in X Games history to compete in three medal events in a single day. By late 2009, Pearce was considered a serious threat to end training partner and rival Shaun White's Olympic dominance heading into the 2010 Vancouver Games. On 31 December 2009, while attempting a cab double cork during a training run in Park City, Utah - on the same halfpipe where skier Sarah Burke would later die in 2012 - Pearce struck his head above his left eye and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He spent the next 32 days with no memory, requiring five months of hospitalization and rehabilitation, including time at a specialized brain injury center in Denver, to relearn how to walk and talk. Pearce's recovery, and his family's determined effort to bring him back, was documented in Lucy Walker's 2013 HBO film 'The Crash Reel,' which was shortlisted for an Academy Award. He never returned to competitive snowboarding, but has continued to ride recreationally in soft powder. In 2014, he and his brother Adam founded the nonprofit LoveYourBrain, which has since provided yoga, meditation, and mindfulness programs to thousands of people affected by traumatic brain injuries across the United States and Canada.
Being a 2010 Olympic medal favorite whose career-ending brain injury and remarkable recovery were documented in the acclaimed film 'The Crash Reel'
How They Played
Highly technical, amplitude-driven halfpipe rider who was considered Shaun White's chief rival heading into the 2010 Olympics
Lasting Impact
Remembered as one of the sport's most talented halfpipe riders of his generation, whose injury and public recovery brought lasting awareness to the risks of traumatic brain injury in action sports
Career Honours
- 2007-08 TTR World Snowboard Tour Champion
- 3-medal day at the 2008 Winter X Games (first in X Games history)
- 2x Arctic Challenge Champion
- Subject of the Academy Award-shortlisted documentary 'The Crash Reel'
American Athletes