Abdi Jama (born 1 November 1982) is a Somali British wheelchair basketball player. He was born in Burao, northwestern

Somaliland Somaliland,; ar, صوماليلاند ', ' officially the Republic of Somaliland,, ar, جمهورية صوماليلاند, link=no ''Jumhūrīyat Ṣūmālīlānd'' is a ''de facto'' sovereign state in the Horn of Africa, still conside ...

and lives in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He was selected to play for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...

in the

2012 Summer Paralympics 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Personal life

Jama was born on 1 November 1982 in Burao, in northwestern

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. He lives in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and has 6 brothers and sisters. His family moved from Somalia to

Toxteth Toxteth is an inner-city area of Liverpool in the historic county of Lancashire and the ceremonial county of Merseyside. Toxteth is located to the south of Liverpool city centre, bordered by Aigburth, Canning, Dingle, and Edge Hill. The area w ...

in Liverpool due to the wars in Somalia. As a child, Jama was left paralysed at the age of 14. He thought that he could not have a sporting career, until he was introduced to wheelchair basketball by

Ade Orogbemi Ade Orogbemi (born 11 May 1978) is a Nigerian-born British wheelchair basketball player. He was selected to play for Team GB in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Personal life Orogbemi was born in Lagos in Nigeria on 11 May 1978. He current ...

. He is a

1 point player 1 point player is a disability sport classification for wheelchair basketball. It is for people who have significant loss of trunk control. Definition This classification is for wheelchair basketball. Classification for the sport is done by the I ...

Wheelchair basketball

Jama was introduced to wheelchair basketball by Ade Orogbemi, who was playing for

at the time. Orogbemi went to Jama's school to run a taster session of wheelchair basketball. Jama later became a team-mate of Orogbemi in Team GB. He joined the Liverpool Vikings shortly after. In his career, Jama has represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where his team won bronze. He has played for clubs in Italy and Australia. He currently plays for and trains with the Wolverhampton Rhinos. In 2007, Jama played in his first championship, the 2007 European Wheelchair Basketball Championships in

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

, where his team won silver. He participated in the 2008 Beijing Summer Paralympic Games for Team GB. The following year he played in the 2009 European Championships in

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana Province, Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart ...

, southern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, where, along with his team, won bronze. In 2010, Jama participated in the 2010 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

for Great Britain. Great Britain came fifth after losing 50–59 to France in the quarter-finals. In the 2011 European Championships in

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, along with his team, he won gold.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jama, Abdi 1982 births Living people British men's wheelchair basketball players Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Somalian emigrants to the United Kingdom