
Declan Farmer scored both the go-ahead goal with 37 seconds left in regulation and the game-winner in overtime against Canada to give the USA its third consecutive Paralympic gold at PyeongChang 2018.
Farmer’s gold medal-winning score also tied him for most goals by one player at a single Paralympics; Sylvester Flis also had 11 goals for the USA at the Salt Lake City 2002 Games.
With 12 goals and six assists, Farmer was named Best Forward at the 2017 World Para Ice Hockey Championships in Gangneung, South Korea. It was not enough however for his team to retain their world title as they lost out to rivals Canada 4-1 in the gold medal game.
Farmer has better memories of the 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool, where he scored the game-winning goal in the gold medal match, again against Canada, taking his team to back-to-back Paralympic and World victories.
Farmer, clearly buoyed by his home ice in Buffalo, New York, USA, also tied the Team USA record for the most goals in a single Worlds with six goals in five games.
That crowned a season in which he finished as the team leader with 10 goals and 21 points, and ranked second overall in assists (11).
He improved again in 2015-16, recording 13 goals and eight assists to equal his career high 21 points from the previous season.
Following his contribution to the USA’s gold medal winning performance against Russia at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, Farmer also received the ESPY Award from ESPN as the 2014 Best Male Athlete with a Disability.
Farmer was born a bilateral amputee and began playing the sport in 2006.
Biography
Impairment information
Further personal information
Sport specific information
International debut
General interest
In 2017 and 2019 he was named Best Forward at the world championships. (paralympic.org, 04 May 2019, 30 Jan 2018)
He was named Best Forward at the 2016 Pan Pacific Championships in Buffalo, NY, United States of America. (hockeygods.com, 02 Apr 2016)
He was named Best Male Athlete with an Impairment at the 2014 Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly [ESPY] Awards in the United States of America. (paralympic.org, 13 Mar 2015)
In April 2014 he took part in the ceremonial puck drop prior to the Tampa Bay Lightning's home NHL match against the Montreal Canadiens. (paralympic.org, 13 Mar 2015)
He was named Best Male Athlete at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi by the International Paralympic Committee [IPC]. (paralympic.org, 13 Mar 2015)
He was an alternate captain of the US national team at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. "I think back to Sochi [the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games] and the older guys on that team, and they were my age now [2022]. In Sochi, Brody [Roybal] and I were the young guys by quite a few years, and now that I've been a part of this group for a long time, I've picked up more of a leadership role. I was in Nashville [TN, United States of America] the last couple of years with many of these guys training and took charge of a lot of the training there without any coaches, which gave me more confidence in being a leader of this team. I've built close relationships with everyone on the team, having been here for so long. Just having those relationships is leadership in itself because you know guys well, they believe in you and you believe in them. Establishing that trust between teammates is big." (teamusa.org, 05 Mar 2022, 13 Oct 2021)
Results
Unit | Date | Rank |
---|
Event | Medal | Unit | Date | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mixed | Group B | 2014-03-08 | 1 | |
Mixed | Group B | 2014-03-09 | 3 | |
Mixed | Group B | 2014-03-11 | 6 | |
Mixed | Group B - Standings | 2014-03-11 | 2 | |
Mixed | Semifinal | 2014-03-13 | 202 | |
Mixed | Gold Medal Match | 2014-03-15 | 101 |
Event | Medal | Unit | Date | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mixed Tournament | Group B | 2018-03-11 | 2 | |
Mixed Tournament | Group B | 2018-03-12 | 4 | |
Mixed Tournament | Group B | 2018-03-13 | 5 | |
Mixed Tournament | Group B - Standings | 2018-03-13 | 1 | |
Mixed Tournament | Semifinal | 2018-03-15 | 2 | |
Mixed Tournament | Gold Medal Match | 2018-03-18 | 1 |