Benjamin John Fawcett (born 31 December 1990) is an Australian wheelchair rugby player and member of the national wheelchair rugby team. He won a gold medal 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 ...

and a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Personal

Fawcett was born on December 31, 1990. At the age of 18, a snowboard accident in New Zealand led to him becoming a quadriplegic. He lives in

Bacchus Marsh, Victoria Bacchus Marsh (Wathawurrung: ''Pullerbopulloke'') is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne and west of Melton at a near equidistance to the major cities o ...

Wheelchair rugby

Whilst undertaking rehabilitation in Australia, he was introduced to wheelchair rugby. He was named Australian Rookie of the Year in 2012 and made his international debut for

Australian Steelers Wheelchair rugby is a sport with national representation at the Paralympic games. The Australian Team is known as the 'Steelers'. Australia has competed at every Paralympics Games since the sport gained full Paralympic Medal status at the 200 ...

in 2013 at the tri-series between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. He was a member of the team that retained its gold medal at the

after defeating the United States 59–58 in the final. He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2017. At the 2018 IWRF World Championship in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, he was a member of the Australian team that won the silver medal after being defeated by Japan 61–62 in the gold medal game. At the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

, the Steelers finished fourth after being defeated by Japan 52–60 in the bronze medal game. COVID travel restrictions led to Steelers not having a team training since March 2020 prior to Tokyo. Fawcett won his first world championship gold medal at the

2022 IWRF World Championship The 2022 Wheelchair Rugby World Championship was the 8th international championship for wheelchair rugby. It was held at the DGI-Huset recreational centre in Vejle, Denmark from 10–16 October 2022 and contested by the world's top twelve nationa ...

Vejle, Denmark Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and ...

, when Australia defeated the United States . At the 2024 Summer Paralympics, he was a member of the Steelers that won the bronze medal defeating Great Britain 50–48.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fawcett, Ben Living people 1990 births Australian wheelchair rugby players Wheelchair rugby players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair rugby players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Paralympic medalists in wheelchair rugby Paralympic wheelchair rugby players for Australia