IWBF zone | Asia Oceania | ||
---|---|---|---|
National federation | Basketball Australia | ||
Coach | Brad Ness | ||
Nickname(s) | Rollers | ||
Paralympic Games | |||
Appearances | 15 | ||
Medals | Gold: 1996, 2008 Silver: 2004, 2012 | ||
World Championships | |||
Appearances | 13 | ||
Medals | Gold: 2010, 2014 Bronze: 2006, 2018 | ||
The Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team is the men's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Rollers. Australia took the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games and 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.
Australia has competed at every men's wheelchair basketball tournament at the Paralympic Games except 1964. [1] [2] [3] Kevin Coombs was Australia's first captain of the men's wheelchair basketball team.
The Rollers qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics by winning the 2015 Asia Oceania Qualifying Tournament and finished sixth. [4]
Year | Position | W | L |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | ? | ? | ? |
1964 | Did not compete | ||
1968 | 9th | ? | ? |
1972 | 5th | ? | ? |
1976 | 10th | ? | ? |
1980 | 13th | ? | ? |
1984 | 11th [5] | ? | ? |
1988 | 10th | ? | ? |
1992 | 8th | ? | ? |
1996 | 7 | 1 | |
2000 | 5th | 5 | 3 |
2004 | 6 | 2 | |
2008 | 7 | 1 | |
2012 | 7 | 1 | |
2016 | 6th | 5 | 2 |
2020 | 5th | 4 | 3 |
2024 | 5th | 2 | 4 |
Results included: Israel d Australia 22–5; Australia d Belgium 26–0; United States d Australia 32–10. Results may be incomplete. [7]
Australia did not field a team at the 1964 Summer Paralympics. [10]
Finished 9th among 13 teams.
Finished 8th among 9 teams.
In the preliminary rounds, Australian results were: United States 85 v Australia 29; Israel 101 v Australia 36; France 74 v Australia 53. Australia finished 8th in the tournament. [11]
'Finished 10th among 21 teams
Australian results: Sweden 79 v Australia 51, Belgium 43 v Australia 30, United States 93 v Australia 34, Australia 57 v Japan 42. Australia did not qualify for the finals. [11]
Finished 13th among 17 teams
Finished 11th among 18 teams
Finished 10th among 17 teams
Finished 9th among 12 teams
Finished 1st among 12 teams.
The team beat Great Britain for the gold medal with a final score of 78:63. [12] [13]
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 1996 Summer Paralympics – Men
Finished 5th among 12 teams
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 2000 Summer Paralympics – Men
Finished 2nd among 12 teams.
The Australian's were beaten by Canada 53:70 in the Gold Medal match.
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 2004 Summer Paralympics – Men
Finished 1st among 12 teams.
The team beat Canada 72:60 in the Final
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 2008 Summer Paralympics – Men
Finished 2nd among 12 teams.
The team was defeated by Canada 58:64 in the Gold Medal match.
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics – Men
Finished 6th among 12 teams.
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Finished 5th among 12 teams.
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
Finished 5th among 8 teams.
Detailed Results – Wheelchair basketball at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
(d) Paralympic Games debut
World Championships from 1973 to 2002 known as Gold Cup.
Finished 11th
Finished 10th
Finished 5th
Finished 6th
Finished 4th
Finished 2nd
Finished 3rd
Finished 1st
Finished 1st
Finished 3rd
Finished 7th
Bradley John Ness, OAM is an Australian wheelchair basketballer. He won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing and silver medals at 2004 Athens and 2012 London Paralympics. He was selected as the Australian flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. In December 2023, Ness was appointed the Head Coach of the Rollers - Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team.
Australia sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The country sent 167 athletes in 13 sports and 122 officials. It was the country's largest ever Paralympic delegation to an away Games. The team sent to Beijing was described as the emergence of the new generation of Australian athletes with 56 percent of the team attending their first Paralympic Games. The delegation's chef de mission was Darren Peters.
Australia competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Games in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. The London Games were the biggest Games with 164 nations participating, 19 more than in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic. Australia has participated at every Summer Paralympic Games and hosted the 2000 Sydney Games. As such, the 2000 Sydney Games, regarded as one of the more successful Games, became a point-of-reference and an inspiration in the development of the 2012 London Games.
Australia competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. It was Australia's 12th year of participation at the Paralympics. The team included 151 athletes. Australian competitors won 101 medals to finish fifth in the gold medal table and second on the total medal table. Australia competed in 12 sports and won medals in 8 sports. The Chef de Mission was Paul Bird. The Australian team was smaller than the Sydney Games due to a strict selection policy related to the athletes' potential to win a medal and the International Paralympic Committee's decision to remove events for athletes with an intellectual disability from the Games due to issues of cheating at the Sydney Games. This was due to a cheating scandal with the Spanish intellectually disabled basketball team in the 2000 Summer Paralympics where it was later discovered that only two players actually had intellectual disabilities. The IPC decision resulted in leading Australian athletes such as Siobhan Paton and Lisa Llorens not being able to defend their Paralympic titles. The 2000 summer paralympic games hosted in Sydney Australia proved to be a milestone for the Australian team as they finished first on the medal tally for the first time in history. In comparing Australia's 2000 Paralympic performance and their 2004 performance, it is suggested that having a home advantage might affect performance.
The Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team is the women's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Gliders. The team hasn't won a gold medal for Australia since it began competing at the 1992 Summer Paralympics, however it has won either the silver or bronze medal since the 2000 Summer Paralympics held in Sydney. Gliders finished 6th at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship but did not qualify for the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
Australia national wheelchair rugby team represents Australia in international wheelchair rugby, is sport with national representation at the Paralympic Games. The Australian Team is known as the 'Steelers'.
Kevin Richard Coombs was an Australian wheelchair basketballer and athlete who competed at 5 Paralympics including the first Paralympic Games in 1960. He was the first Australian Aboriginal Paralympic competitor for Australia.
Brendan John Dowler, OAM is an Australian Paralympian, and coaches wheelchair basketball.
Justin Cain Eveson, OAM is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player who has won Paralympic medals in both sports.
Tristan Malcolm Knowles, OAM is an Australian wheelchair basketball player and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and silver medals at the 2004 Athens and 2012 London Paralympics. He was a member of the Roller at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, his sixth Games.
Shaun Daryl Norris, OAM is an Australian wheelchair basketball player. He was a member of the Rollers at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, his sixth Games.
Paula Coghlan is an Australian wheelchair basketball player. She was born in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill in Victoria.
David Ian Gould, is an Australian wheelchair basketball player and coach.
Australia competed at the 1980 Summer Paralympics in Arnhem, Netherlands. It was the 6th Summer Paralympic Games in which Australia had competed. These Games were the biggest Paralympics yet, with 1,973 people participating. Of those participants, 57 were Australian. The team was made up of 45 men and 12 women, and was Australia's largest team to compete at any Paralympic Games so far.
Benjamin James Ettridge is an Australian basketball coach.
4.5-point player is a disability sport classification for wheelchair basketball. Players in this class tend to have normal trunk movement, few problems with side-to-side movements, and ability to reach to the side of their chair. Players generally have a below-knee amputation, or some other partial single-leg dysfunction. This classification is for players with minimal levels of disability. In some places, there is a class beyond this called 5-point player for players with no disabilities.
Jannik Blair is a 1 point wheelchair basketball player who has played for the University of Missouri and the National Wheelchair Basketball League Dandenong Rangers. He is a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, making his debut in 2009, and was member of the Australian team that won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in wheelchair basketball. He was a member of the Rollers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, his fourth Games.
Nick Taylor is a wheelchair basketball player. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics playing for the South Africa men's national wheelchair basketball team. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in wheelchair basketball, being part of the men's team that won silver. After basketball, he successfully took up wheelchair gold and won the inaugural Australian Wheelchair Golf Championship.
Tom Kyle is an Australian wheelchair basketball coach who coaches the Queensland Spinning Bullets and the Australian women's national wheelchair basketball team. He was assistant coach of the Australian men's national wheelchair basketball team from 2009 to 2013, during which time it won gold at the IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championship, and silver at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Australia repeated its 2012 Summer Paralympics achievement in finishing fifth of the medal tally.