Wheelchair rugby is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is practised in over twenty-five countries around the world and is a summer Paralympic sport.
The Wheel Blacks are the national wheelchair rugby team of New Zealand. The team won the gold medal at the 2004 Paralympic games in Athens.
Timothy Clarence Johnson is a New Zealand disability sports administrator and former wheelchair rugby player. He is a past captain of the Wheel Blacks, the New Zealand wheelchair rugby team.
The United States sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. A total of 213 U.S. competitors took part in 18 sports; the only 2 sports Americans did not compete in were soccer 5-a-side and 7-a-side. The American delegation included 16 former members of the U.S. military, including 3 veterans of the Iraq War. Among them were shot putter Scott Winkler, who was paralyzed in an accident in Iraq, and swimmer Melissa Stockwell, a former United States Army officer who lost her left leg to a roadside bomb in the war.
Cameron Leslie is a New Zealand paralympics swimmer and wheelchair rugby player.
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 as 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.
New Zealand competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. The team included 36 athletes, 28 men and 8 women. Competitors from New Zealand won ten medals, including 6 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze to finish 36th in the medal table.
Andrew Harrison, is a wheelchair rugby player. He has won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics. and competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Dan Buckingham is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and was a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks for 16 years. He worked as CEO for the Television Production Company Attitude, and is now the CE of Able (www.able.co.nz).
Stephen Guthrie is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
Geremy Tinker is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
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.
Bill Oughton was a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
Jai Waite is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
Gary McMurray is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
Paul Leefe is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
Grant Sharman is a wheelchair rugby player from New Zealand, and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
Justin Muschamp is a New Zealand wheelchair rugby player and a member of the national team, the Wheel Blacks.
Wheelchair rugby classification is the seven class system that assigns players a point value based on functional mobility to insure parity in athletic ability on the court at any given time. Classification is handled by the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation.
New Zealand competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. Originally to be held from 25 August to 6 September 2020, the event has been postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is now being held from 24 August to 5 September 2021. It was New Zealand's 14th appearance at Summer Paralympics.
