Abigail Dunkin (born November 24, 1995) is an American 3.5 point wheelchair basketball player who won gold at the

2015 Parapan American Games The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Pa ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada, the

2016 Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, and the

2019 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship 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 na ...

Suphanburi Suphan Buri () is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in central Thailand. It covers ''tambon'' Tha Philiang and parts of ''tambons'' Rua Yai and Tha Rahat, all within the Mueang Suphan Buri District. As of 2006 it had a population of 26,656. The town ...

, Thailand.

Early life

Abby Dunkin was born on November 24, 1995, in

Rota, Andalusia The town of Rota is a Spanish municipality located in the Province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Its surface area is 84 km2 and is bordered by the towns of Chipiona, Sanlúcar de Barrameda and El Puerto de Santa María. It is located near the city of ...

, Spain, but considers New Braunfels, Texas, to be her home town. When Dunkin was 13 years old, she was diagnosed with

complex regional pain syndrome Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is any of several painful conditions that are characterized by a continuing (spontaneous and/or evoked) regional pain that is seemingly disproportionate in time or degree to the usual course of any known trau ...

, a brain disorder that causes abnormal pain. She played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and was a second degree black belt in martial arts. She continued to play sports despite the pain. In February 2013, she went to North Texas for treatment. She was told that she could never play basketball again, get a

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

, or consume

caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine t ...

. On February 27, 2013, Dunkin woke up unable to walk properly and became dependent on a wheelchair. The condition was subsequently re-diagnosed as neurocardiogenic syncope

dysautonomia Dysautonomia or autonomic dysfunction is a condition in which the autonomic nervous system (ANS) does not work properly. This may affect the functioning of the heart, bladder, intestines, sweat glands, pupils, and blood vessels. Dysautonomia has m ...

with small fiber

neuropathy Peripheral neuropathy, often shortened to neuropathy, is a general term describing disease affecting the peripheral nerves, meaning nerves beyond the brain and spinal cord. Damage to peripheral nerves may impair sensation, movement, gland, or o ...

. She became depressed and addicted to prescription painkillers, once experienced an overdose.

Sport career

Dunkin competed in track and field athletics at Comal Canyon High School, winning wheelchair 100 metres, 400 metres and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

events. She discovered wheelchair basketball watching videos of the sport at the

2012 Paralympic Games The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in London on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. She trained with military veterans and the San Antonio ParaSport Spurs. After six months of playing with the men, she was recruited by the

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

to play for their new

Lady Movin' Mavs The UT Arlington Mavericks women's wheelchair basketball team, commonly known as the Lady Movin' Mavs, is the women's college wheelchair basketball team representing the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Established in 2013, the team plays u ...

wheelchair basketball team. The Lady Movin' Mavs went on to win their first national title in 2016, defeating the top-seeded

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

team 65–51 in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association intercollegiate tournament in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. In January 2015, after only a few months with the Lady Movin' Mavs, Dunkin was invited to try out for the national team. She was selected for the team, which won gold at the

, Canada. In 2016, she was part of the USA team at the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, winning a Paralympic gold medal. She was one of a small number of openly gay athletes at the games. Dunkin continued to play with the Movin Mavs. On 17 March 2018, they capped off an undefeated season by beating their arch-rivals, the University of Alabama 65–55 to win the national championship. In 2018, Dunkin was one of three UTA students selected for the national team at the

2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship 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 di ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany, where Team USA came sixth. On 16 March 2019, the Movin' Mavs once again faced the University of Alabama in the national championship final, but this time fell short, losing 87–76 in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. In May 2019 she won a gold medal with the U25 Women's side at the

, Thailand. Team USA defeated Australia in the final 62–25. Dunkin was selected as one of the All-Star Five, along with Movin' Mav teammates

Rose Hollermann Rose Hollermann (born December 25, 1995) is an American 3.5 point wheelchair basketball player who won gold at the 2011, and 2019 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship, the 2011, 2015 and 2023 Parapan American Games, and the 2 ...

and Annabelle Lindsay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkin, Abby 21st-century American LGBT people 21st-century American sportswomen American women's wheelchair basketball players Living people Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States LGBT people from Texas Spanish LGBT sportspeople Spanish lesbians American LGBT sportspeople American lesbians LGBT basketball players 1995 births Basketball people from Texas Sportspeople from New Braunfels, Texas People from Rota, Andalusia Sportspeople from the Province of Cádiz UT Arlington Mavericks women's wheelchair basketball players Lesbian sportswomen Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics LGBT people with disabilities