3'6"
20
Bozeman, MT
Montana State
Classification: LW11.5, Sitting
Michael Kneeland is known in American Para Nordic skiing for the speed with which he has ascended to the international level. Kneeland came to competitive skiing relatively late by elite standards, picking up the sport at age 17. Bozeman's outdoor culture and proximity to mountain terrain gave him consistent access to training conditions, and his natural athleticism and analytical mindset accelerated his progress through the para Nordic development pipeline.
Born with a condition that led to bilateral rotationplasty, a surgical procedure in which both legs were rotated 180 degrees, repositioning the ankle joint to function as a knee. He competes in the LW11.5 sitting classification and uses a sit-ski to compete in cross-country skiing and biathlon events.
In January 2024, while still a high school junior, he traveled to Italy and competed in his first two world cup events. In February 2025, he competed at the IBU Para Biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia, becoming the youngest of seven Americans racing at the event and the youngest competitor in his classification. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Kneeland continued to improve, competing at world cup events across Europe and gaining experience at venues he would later see at the Paralympics.
Kneeland made his world championships debut at the 2025 IBU Para Biathlon World Championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia, where he placed 19th in the 7.5-kilometer biathlon pursuit and 21st in the sprint biathlon pursuit in the sitting men's classification.
In February 2026, Kneeland received the news that would validate his years of training and sacrifice: he was awarded bipartite spots (invitation-based qualification) by both the International Ski Federation and International Biathlon Union to compete at the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Off the snow, Kneeland is an exceptional student. He attended Heritage Christian School in Bozeman, where he distinguished himself not only as an emerging Para Nordic talent but also as robotics team captain, student government member, award-winning vocalist, and theater performer. Named one of only 20 recipients of Montana State's most prestigious Presidential Scholarship from a pool of 1,434 applicants, Kneeland earned the honor based on scholastic achievement, demonstrated leadership, and exemplary public service. His academic focus reflects a curiosity about how things work that parallels his approach to athletic performance: precise, technical, and analytical.
Beyond sport and academics, Kneeland channels his creativity into music and his love of collecting Lego sets. He describes strategic board games as some of his most enjoyable ways to unwind, and his taste in film leans toward science fiction, reflecting a broader fascination with technology and imagined futures that extends naturally into his engineering studies.
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