Jordan Malone

Jordan is a 41-year-old native of Denton, Texas and the only child of single mother, Peggy Aitken. He has lived in Nante, France; Oldebroek, the Netherlands; Long Beach, California; Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah. His unusual life has taken him around the world to over 154 cities in 18 countries on 4 continents. Malone studied mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jordan began inline speed skating in 1990 at the age of 5, and participated in his first international race in 1995. He made his first World Team in 2000, and turned professional the following year. In 2001, he earned the title of most decorated junior of all time, and in 2003 he was the fastest man in the world, winning the Senior World Championships.

Jordan left the sport of Inline with a total of 8 Junior and 6 Senior World Championship titles. He also competed on the Rollerblade, Inc. and Mogema WIC (World Inline Cup) Professional teams from 2001 to 2004.

Jordan credits his mother with enabling him to succeed in sports. Although she was not an athlete herself, Jordan says she taught him the life lessons he needed, including attention to detail. She also spent years driving Jordan to practices and meets, including a two-hour trip to Waco, Texas every weekend. She even had a hand in his training: Jordan said she had a moped, which she used to pace him while he skated behind her on inlines.

In 2002, as an inline skater, Jordan was twice sidelined by significant injuries. First, while warming up at a meet, Jordan slipped and his left foot hit the boards and twisted, resulting in a spiral fracture. Jordan spent four months in a walking cast, during which he could only train by riding a bike or running in water.

Two weeks after returning, another freak accident left him hospitalized: Jordan tripped over a timing wire during a race, and went headfirst into the timing device that had no padding. When Jordan woke up in a hospital in Switzerland, they told him he broke his upper jaw, lost four teeth, and had been convulsing during the 20 minutes it took to stabilize him at the scene. Jordan ended up with four plates and 16 screws in his head to keep his jaw in place.

Jordan momentarily considered quitting at that point. "And then, 'What am I thinking?' No way am I done," Jordan said. "This is what I love to do."