In the world of BMX, there is arguably no bigger name than former MTV personality and X Games legend Dave Mirra, who has been an icon of the sport for over 20 years. Sadly, Mirra won’t be contributing to BMX or the small screen anymore, as the athlete has been found dead of an apparent suicide. He was 41 years old.
Mirra, who was reportedly visiting friends in Greenville, North Carolina, was found in his truck earlier today with a gunshot wound to the head that was apparently self-inflicted. According to TMZ, the police are currently investigating the death, and it doesn’t appear that Mirra left a note or anything else explaining his actions.
In fact, Mirra was active on social media mere hours before his body was found, which makes a suicide all the more shocking. Here was one post on Instagram that celebrate his wife, who survives him with the couple’s two children.
Born in New York in 1974, Dave Mirra and fellow athlete Ryan Nyquist turned BMX into a household name in the 1990s, and Mirra became something of a celebrity thanks to his monumental success at the X Games from 1995-2008; he held the record for most X Games medals for many years until Bob Burnquist took the top spot in 2013.
His success on the televised X Games ramps opened up doors for him elsewhere on TV, particularly MTV, where he hosted two seasons of Real World/Road Rules Challenge from 2004-2005. He also appeared on the network’s The New Tom Green Show, Punk’d, Nitro Circus and Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory. He was part of the 30 for 30 episode “The Birth of Big Air” and also made appearances on George Lopez and Las Vegas, among other shows.
Outside of TV, Mirra was also notable for putting out a series of awesome video games that kicked off in 2000 with Dave Mirra’s Freestyle BMX, and he also popped up in the game Colin McRae: Dirt 2. Some years back, he published the book Mirra Images, a biography as told through photos from his accolade-heavy life. Another one of those accolades was being a part of the winning team in the Four Person Male category for the 2014 Race Across America.
We here at Cinema Blend send out our thoughts and condolences to Dave Mirra’s family and friends during their time of mourning.
