Mogo Wheelchairs is an Australian manufacturer of sporting wheelchairs established by Michael Callahan who competed in wheelchair basketball for Australia at the 1984 Summer Paralympics and 1992 Summer Paralympics. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Callahan wasn't able to find suitable chairs for competitive wheelchair basketball, and started building his own in the early 1980s. [2] [4] In 2000 Callahan reported to Sydney Morning Herald that his company was building 600 to 700 chairs a year at around AUD 2,000 per chair, and almost all of Australia's wheelchair basketball team was using his chairs. [2]
Mogo pioneered the inclusion of a fifth wheel that is now standard in wheelchair basketball. [5] [6] [7]
Double amputee, Paralympian and public speaker Matt Glowacki is their advocate in the United States. [8] [4]
Dylan Martin Alcott, is an Australian former wheelchair tennis player, former wheelchair basketball player, radio host and motivational speaker. Alcott was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, known colloquially as the Australian "Rollers". At the age of 17, he became the youngest Rollers gold medal winner, at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and was the youngest to compete in the wheelchair basketball competition. In 2014, he returned to wheelchair tennis with the aim of participating at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, at which he won gold medals in the Men's Quad Singles and Doubles. He was named the 2016 Australian Paralympian of the Year due to his outstanding achievements at Rio.
Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 except for the 1976 Winter Paralympics.
Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian teams that participate at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics.
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.
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.
David Robert Hall, OAM is an Australian former professional wheelchair tennis player. With eight US Open singles titles, two Masters singles titles, and a Paralympic gold medal in singles, he has been referred to as Australia's greatest ever wheelchair tennis player.
Kevin Richard Coombs, OAM PLY is 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.
Liesl Dorothy Tesch AM is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, sailor, and politician. She is a Labor Party member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, representing Gosford since the 2017 Gosford state by-election.
Tina McKenzie is an Australian 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. After becoming an incomplete paraplegic as a result of a fall from a building in 1994, she took up wheelchair tennis and later wheelchair basketball. She joined the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team, known as the Gliders, in 1999, and played her first international match at the 2002 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Japan. She has over 100 international caps.
Sarah Stewart is a 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player from Australia. 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.
Troy Sachs, OAM is an Australian wheelchair basketball player. He competed at five Paralympic Games from 1992 to 2008, where he won three medals. Sachs won two national league championships in Australia, three national league championships in the United States, one national league championship in Germany, and an André Vergauwen Cup championship with Italian club Tabu Cantu.
Brett Andrew Stibners, OAM is an Australian wheelchair basketball player who won a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship. He was a member of the Rollers team that competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, his fourth Games.
Jane Sachs is an Australian wheelchair basketball player, who has won two medals at three Paralympics from 1996 to 2004.
Fabian John Blattman, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He became disabled after a motorbike accident. He started playing disabled bowls, before switching to athletics. As a Paralympic athletics competitor, he has set several world records and won two Paralympic gold medals.
Gerard "Gerry" Benjamin Hewson, OAM is an Australian former Paralympic wheelchair basketballer. He has coached wheelchair basketball on the national and international level in Australia. Gerry is now studying horticulture at TAFE and is the producer of Gerard Benjamin honey from Cedar Brush Creek.
Matthew Cameron is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, he won a bronze medal.
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.
Curtis Palmer is a New Zealand-born wheelchair rugby player who initially played for the New Zealand national team Wheel Blacks. In 2013 he switched to play for the Australia national wheelchair rugby team.
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.