David "Dave" Durepos (born July 14, 1968) is a Canadian retired

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 ...

player. He is married to fellow Paralympian Sabrina Pettinicchi. As a member of Team Canada, Durepos competed in five

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

where he won 3 gold medals along with one silver. On September 25, 2012, the City of

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

proclaimed that date to be Dave Durepos Day.

Early life

Durepos was born on July 14, 1968, in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. He attended and graduated from the

New Brunswick Community College New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) is a community college located throughout various locations in New Brunswick, Canada including Moncton, Miramichi, Fredericton (its head office), Saint John, St. Andrews, and Woodstock. New Brunswick Co ...

in 1984 with a degree in Steel Fabrication. After suffering from a spinal cord injury due to a motorcycle crash in 1988, he lost the use of his legs.

Career

Durepos joined

Canada men's national wheelchair basketball team The Canada men's national wheelchair basketball team is one of Canada's most successful paralympic sporting teams. It is the only national men's wheelchair basketball team to have won two consecutive gold medals at the Paralympic Games in 2000 and ...

in 1994. He served as Captain for Team Canada in the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

where they won their first Paralympic gold medal. As a result, Durepos became the first New Brunswick player to bring home an Olympic or Paralympic gold medal. In the following years, he joined the

National Wheelchair Basketball Association National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) is composed of 181 wheelchair basketball teams within twenty-two conferences. Founded in 1949 by Timothy Nugent, the NWBA today consists of men's, women's, intercollegiate, and youth teams throug ...

where he led the Milwaukee Bucks to a Final Four Championship title in 2002 and became the first Canadian to be named MVP in Division I of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association. He also received Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal. In 2004, Durepos was selected to compete at the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

in Athens. While still a member of the Canada National Team, Durepos was named MVP back-to-back at the Canadian National Championships in 2006 and 2007. Before retiring, Durepos helped lead Canada to a gold medal 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 ...

. After retiring in 2012, the City of

proclaimed that September 25 would be christened Dave Durepos Day. Two years later, he was inducted into the

New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame The New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la Renommée Sportive du Nouveau-Brunswick) is a provincial sports hall of fame and museum in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The sports hall of fame honours athletes, teams, and sport builders t ...

. He later coached New Brunswick's Canada Games wheelchair basketball team alongside his wife Sabrina Pettinicchi in 2015.

References

External links