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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Wheelchair basketball | ||||||||||||||
| Disability class | 0.5 (rugby) | ||||||||||||||
| Club | University of Queensland Club | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Beau Vernon (born 5 December 1988) is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He won a bronze medal with the Steelers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics. [1]
Vernon is from Phillip Island, Victoria. [2] In June 2012, at the age of 23, his head was hit during a game of Australian football at Leongatha, Victoria and this resulted in him becoming a quadriplegic. [3] He spent seven months Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Hospital in Kew, Melbourne. In 2023, he moved Sunshine Coast in Queensland with his wife Lucy and three – Layla, Joey and Ollie. [2] [4] He has completed a business degree at RMIT.
Prior to his football injury, he was a successful at state level athletics and basketball. [3] He was the youngest player in Gippsland Power’s TAC Cup 2005 premiership team, playing alongside Scott Pendlebury, Dale Thomas and Xavier Ellis. [3] In 2014, he was appointed coach of Leongatha Football Club in the Gippsland League and they went on to win the premiership in his third year of coaching. [3] He has also coached Phillip Island Seniors to two premierships. [2] [3]
He was introduced to wheelchair rugby through Australian Paralympian Nazem Erdem, a gold and silver medallist. [2] Vernon is a 0.5 player and is a member of the University of Queensland Rugby Club. He was a member of Steelers that won the 2024 WWR Paralympic Qualification Tournament, Wellington, New Zealand and has been selected for the 2024 Summer Paralympics. [5]
At the 2024 Summer Paralympics, he was a member of the Steelers that won the bronze medal defeating Great Britain 50–48. [6]
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'.
Ryley Batt, is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He has won two gold, one silver medal and one bronze medal at six Paralympic Games.
Nazim Erdem, is an Australian wheelchair rugby Paralympic gold and silver medalist. He has won two gold and two silver medals at five Paralympics from 2000 to 2016.
Brad Dubberley is an Australian Paralympic wheelchair rugby Head Coach and former athlete. He won a silver medal as an athlete at the 2000 Sydney Games and was the head coach at the 2008 Beijing Games in the mixed wheelchair rugby event. He is the head coach of the Australian Wheelchair Rugby team known as the Australian Steelers.
Ryan Scott, 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.
The Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association was the peak body for sport, recreation and fitness for people with a physical disability or vision impairment in the Australian state of Queensland.
Cody Meakin, is a wheelchair rugby player. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in wheelchair rugby.
Christopher Adam Bond is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He has won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Benjamin John Fawcett is an Australian wheelchair rugby player and member of the national wheelchair rugby team. He won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Michael "Mick" Ozanne is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He represented the Steelers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Anthony Eric "Tony" South OAM AM is an Australian Paralympic archer who won a gold medal and two silver medals at the 1968 Summer Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Paralympics.
Andrew John Edmondson is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Dinesh Palipana is an Australian doctor, lawyer, scientist and disability advocate. He is the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland, Australia. He is the second person with quadriplegia to graduate as a doctor in Australia and the first with spinal cord injury.
Ella Sabljak is an Australian 1.0 point wheelchair basketball and 2.5 wheelchair rugby player. She represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in basketball and at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she won a bronze medal in wheelchair rugby with the Steelers.
Josh Nicholson is an Australian wheelchair rugby player and was a member of the Steelers that won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Jake Howe is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He has represented the Steelers at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where they won the bronze medal.
Emilie Miller is an Australian Paralympic road hand cyclist and wheelchair rugby player. She won a bronze medal with the Steelers at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Shae Graham is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. She competed at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, her first Games and the first female to be selected for the Steelers. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she won a bronze medal.
James McQuillan is an Australian wheelchair rugby player and won a bronze medal with the Steelers at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Brayden Foxley-Connolly is an Australian wheelchair basketball and rugby player. He won a bronze medal with the Steelers at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
