Ryan Scott (wheelchair rugby)
 2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Scott | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |
 Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 3 March 1982 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | 0.5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ryan Scott, OAM (born 3 March 1982) [1] is a Paralympic wheelchair rugby competitor from Australia. In four Paralympics, Scott has won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics. [2]
Personal
Scott was born on 3 March 1982. On the 6 June 1998 as as 16 year-old , he became a quadriplegic due to a car crash on a country road on route to Victor Harbor, South Australia.[3] [1] [4] At the time of the accident, he was a year 11 student at Willunga High School. [3] The accident left Scott paralysed from his chest down but he has some some movement in his shoulders, back, biceps and forearms. [3] He moved to Brisbane from Adelaide in 2009 due to the warm weather and due to Queensland having a good wheelchair rugby program.[5]
Wheelchair rugby
Scott took up wheelchair rugby as part of his rehabiliation. Scott said "I always loved sport and participated in all kinds of sport – soccer, basketball, Aussie rules, pretty much every sport except able-bodied rugby. As a quadriplegic, I didn’t have the upper-body strength to play wheelchair basketball. When I saw wheelchair rugby, that’s when I thought that sport was still possible." [3] Scott made his debut for the Australian team 'Steelers' in August 2001. [4]He was a member of the Steelers that came fifth at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. [4] He won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Games in the mixed wheelchair rugby event.[6] He won a gold medal at the 2012 London Games in the mixed wheelchair rugby event.[6]
He was a member of the Steelers that finished with the silver medal at the 2010 World Championships and gold medal at the 2014 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships at Odense, Denmark.[7]
Scott captained the Australian team that retained its gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics after defeating the United States 59–58 in the final. [8]
In 2016, he is captain of the Steelers [4] and plays for the Suncorp Queensland Cyclones in the Wheelchair Rugby National League. [9]
Scott said "But because of wheelchair rugby I’ve been able to travel the world playing a team sport, I have represented my county at three Paralympic Games, which is huge. It has also made me a much more independent person." [5]
Recognition
- 2012 - Order of Australia (OAM) - for service to sport as a gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.[10]
- 2015 - Sporting Wheelie of the Year - Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association[11]
References
- 1 2 Media guide : Beijing 2008 (PDF). Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2008.
- ↑ "Steelers aim to maintain their reign in Rio". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Lawrence, Ellisa (5 September 2016). "Paralympics 2016: We're the Superhumans - Queensland's champions". Courier Mail. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "Ryan Scott". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- 1 2 "Wheelchair rugby player Ryan Scott gears up for fourth Paralympics in Rio". Courier Mail. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- 1 2 "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ↑ "Australia wins first ever IWRF World Championship". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ↑ Lees, Chris (19 September 2016). "Steelers double up with Paralympics gold". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- ↑ "Suncorp Queensland Cyclones wheelchair rugby team". Sporting Wheelies and Disabled website. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
- ↑ "Ryan Scott". It's An Honour website. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- ↑ "Ryan Scott named 2015 Sporting Wheelie of the Year". Sportsing Wheelies and Disabled Association website. Retrieved 25 July 2016.