Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the sole competent authority in wheelchair basketball worldwide. FIBA has recognized IWBF under Article 53 of its General Statutes.
Shelley Matheson is an Australian 3.5-point player wheelchair basketball player. She participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where she won a silver medal; in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal, and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a second silver medal, a win she dedicated to her lifelong friend Shannon.
Nikolaos "Nikos" Pappas is a Greek former professional basketball player who last played for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. He stands at 1.95 m meters of height and plays at the shooting guard-small forward positions.
Wheelchair basketball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics was held from 30 August to 8 September. Competitions were held at the newly built Basketball Arena, which seated 10,000 spectators, and The O2 Arena. Australia were the defending champions of the men's championship, while the United States were the defending champions of the women's championship.
Kylie Gauci is an Australian Paralympic 2-point wheelchair basketball player. She participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where she won a silver medal; in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal, and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a second silver medal. Gauci represented Australia at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Championships, and was named to the World All Star 5 at the World Championships in Amsterdam in 2006. She has played over 180 international games.
Cobi Crispin is a 4 point wheelchair basketball forward from Western Australia. She began playing wheelchair basketball in 2003 when she was 17 years old. The Victorian Institute of Sport and Direct Athlete Support (DAS) program have provided assistance to enable her to play. She played club basketball in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL) for the Victorian Dandenong Rangers in 2012 after having previously played for the Western Stars. In 2015 she began playing for the Minecraft Comets. She played for the University of Alabama in the United States in 2013–15.
Justin Cain Eveson, OAM is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player who has won Paralympic medals in both sports.
Amber Merritt is a 4.5-point wheelchair basketball player who plays forward. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a silver medal and at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.
Mareike Miller is a 4.5 point wheelchair basketball player, who played for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the United States. She also plays for the German national team, with which she won two European titles, was runner-up at 2010 and 2014 World Championships, won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London and won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt, twice.
Annika Zeyen-Giles is a former 1.5-point wheelchair basketball player, who has played for ASV Bonn, RSV Lahn-Dill and BG Baskets Hamburg in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the University of Alabama in the United States. She has represented her country a total of 382 times in which she won six European titles, was the runner-up at 2010 and 2014 World Championships, won silver medals at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing and 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, and won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, for which President Joachim Gauck awarded the team Germany's highest sporting honour, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt . Following the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Zeyen retired from wheelchair basketball to pursue alternative sporting challenges as an individual athlete.
The 2013 IWBF Men's U23 World Championship was the fifth edition of the IWBF U23 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship held in Adana, Turkey from 7 to 14 September 2013. The tournament was played in two venues, the Yüreğir Serinevler Arena and the Menderes Sports Hall.
Alejandro Zarzuela Beltrán is a Spanish 3 point wheelchair basketball player. He has represented Spain as a member of the national team at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and at the U-23 European Championships. As a club wheelchair basketball player in Spain, he has played all but two seasons on the same team with his twin brother, Pablo. He has won several Copas del Rey, league championships and a European Champions League.
Spain men's national wheelchair basketball team has represented Spain at the IWBF European Championships, IWBF World Championships and at the Paralympic Games. The team won a bronze at the 2013 European Championships. They finished fifth at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and sixth at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. Spain also has a men's national under-22 team and under-23 team. The under-23 team finished second at the 2009 Paris European Championships.
Separate men's and women's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship tournaments were held in 2014. The women's tournament was held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Canada between 20 and 28 June 2014. It was the largest women's wheelchair basketball world championship in history, with 12 national teams participating. Each team selected a squad of 12 players for the tournament.
The 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held at the China Disability Sports Training Centre in Beijing from 30 June to 6 July 2015. Six nations competed: Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Great Britain and Japan. The event took the form of a Round-robin tournament, with each team playing all the other teams once. The top four teams then went into semi-finals, while the bottom two played each other for world ranking. The winners of the semi-finals faced each other in the final, while the losers played for bronze. The championship was won by Team Great Britain. Australia came second and China third.
Wheelchair basketball at the 2016 Summer Paralympics will be held from 8 to 17 September at Carioca Arena 1 and the Rio Olympic Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held at the Edel-optics.de Arena in Hamburg, Germany, from 16 to 26 August 2018. Both men's and women's tournaments were held, with 12 women's and 16 men's teams competing, representing 19 different nations. Each team selected 12 players for the tournament. The men's competition was won by Great Britain, with the United States winning silver and Australia winning bronze. The women's competition was won by the Netherlands, with Great Britain winning silver and the host nation winning bronze.
The 2019 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held at the Suphanburi Indoor Stadium in Thailand, from 23 to 27 May 2019. It was the third wheelchair basketball world championship for women in the under-25 age category. Eight nations competed: Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Thailand, South Africa, Turkey and the United States. The event took the form of a round-robin tournament, with each team playing all the other teams once. The eight teams then went into quarter-finals, while the bottom two played each other for world ranking. The winners of the semi-finals faced each other in the final, while the losers played for bronze. The competition was won by the United States, with Australia taking silver and Great Britain claiming bronze.
The 2023 IWBF Men's European Championship was the 26th edition of the European Wheelchair Basketball Championship. It took place from 11 to 19 August 2023 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
The 2021 IWBF Men's European Championship was the 25th edition of the European Wheelchair Basketball Championship and will be held in Madrid, Netherlands from 4 to 12 December 2021.
