Amanda Yan (born May 22, 1988) is a Canadian 3.0 point

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

and

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, ...

player who won a gold medal at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in

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 ...

. She was also a national champion in

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 ...

in 2012.

Biography

Amanda Yan was born in

Burnaby, British Columbia Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard Inl ...

, on May 22, 1988. She attended

Burnaby Central Secondary School Burnaby Central Secondary School is a public high school in Burnaby, British Columbia. It is located across from Burnaby City Hall and is adjacent to Deer Lake Park. Burnaby Central is a part of Burnaby School District 41. As of 2015, there ar ...

, where as a teenager she was an active athlete who 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 ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athletics. She then became a student at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located from ...

. On April 19, 2008, Yan was

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

Whistler, British Columbia Whistler ( Lillooet/Ucwalmícwts: Cwitima, ; Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh: Sḵwiḵw, ) is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mounta ...

, when the edge of her snowboard became caught on a cat track, causing her to slide off the Crystal Road run — rated a beginner's run — and fall off a cliff. She suffered horrific injuries, dislocating two vertebrae and fracturing three, as well as fracturing her right femur and right wrist, and suffering brain, lung and kidney damage. She was airlifted to hospital, where she was informed that there was little chance that she would ever walk again. Months of rehabilitation at the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre in Vancouver followed. During rehabilitation Yan was introduced to the sport of

. Classified as a 3.0 point player, she began playing in her local competition in 2011. She was named the BC-CWBL Division 2's Most Improved Player for 2011–12. The following season saw her playing for the BC Breakers, who went on to win the 2012 national championship title. The BC Breakers came fourth in 2013, but Yan was named to the Championship's All-Star Five. She also began playing with the BC Royals in the men's league. In March 2014, Yan was named the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society's Female Athlete of the Year. She also received a True Sport award, which is given annually to an elite athlete with a commitment to fair play and inclusion by Wheelchair Basketball Canada. The following month the BC Breakers again won the CWBL Women's National Championship before a home-town crowd in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the ad ...

, with Yan again being named an All Star. Yan became part of the national team in 2013, representing Canada at the Osaka Cup that year. In July 2014, she was part of the team that won a gold medal at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in

. In addition to playing wheelchair basketball, Yan plays a number of other sports, including

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

handcycling A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually having th ...

wheelchair racing Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

, and track and field, in events such as

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

and discus. She received the 2012 Avchen (Harivel) Pinkard Rookie of the Year award for track and field. She was a national champion in

in 2012, and also came second in women's wheelchair tennis (singles and doubles) at the national championship that year.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yan, Amanda 1988 births Canadian women's wheelchair basketball players Living people Sportspeople from Burnaby Simon Fraser University alumni Canadian female shot putters Wheelchair basketball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics