Daniel Wesley (aka Daniel Westley) is a Canadian athlete who won 12 medals while competing in the Paralympic Games.Hill, Tom (4 April 2012
Meditation Finding Balance Paralympian
''Vancouver Sun'', Retrieved 5 April 2012

Early life

Wesley grew up in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and lost both his legs in 1973 when he fell under a moving train.

Career

While recovering from his accident, Wesley met

Rick Hansen Richard Marvin Hansen (born August 26, 1957) is a Canadian track and field athlete (Paralympic Games), activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities. Following a pickup truck crash at the age of 15, Hansen sustained a spinal cord ...

who inspired him to try wheelchair athletics. He began wheelchair racing in 1978 and track and field competitions in 1979 and earned a place on the team for the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officially. Bidding pro ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...

. He competed in both the winter and summer games in several sports including "wheelchair racing and skiing" and won two gold and two silver medals. After finishing fourth in the 1991

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

men's wheelchair race, Wesley won the 1992 race and set a new course record. He competed in the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , eve ...

events in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and again at the

1994 Winter Paralympics The 1994 Winter Paralympics ( no, Paralympiske vinterleker 1994; nn, Paralympiske vinterleikane 1994), the sixth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Lillehammer, Norway, from 10 to 19 March 1994. These Games marked the second time the Paral ...

in Lilehammer and at the

1998 Winter Paralympics The , the seventh Paralympic Winter Games, were held alongside the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan from 5 to 14 March 1998. They were the first Paralympic Winter Games to be held outside Europe. 571 athletes competed in Nagano; as 2022 it remai ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

. At the

2002 Winter Paralympics The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from March 7 to 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Ameri ...

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

he won gold and silver medals. In 2003 he received a 3rd place overall ranking in the World Cup. As of 2012, Wesley had won 12 Paralympic medals, four of them gold, while competing in wheelchair sports such as racing and skiing at "five Paralympic Games." Wesley works as a sales person for a "home medical equipment company." In 2008, Wesley became part of the

Canadian Disability Hall of Fame The Canadian Disability Hall of Fame (formerly the Terry Fox Hall of Fame), recognizes "outstanding Canadians who have made extraordinary contributions to enriching the quality of life for people with physical disabilities". It is run by the Canadia ...

Personal

Wesley lives in New Westminster, Canada. He began skiing at age 25 and is a practitioner of

Transcendental Meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes ...

References

External links

Paralympic Bio and Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, Daniel (Athlete) Olympic wheelchair racers for Canada Paralympic alpine skiers for Canada Sportspeople from New Westminster Living people 1960 births Canadian male wheelchair racers Paralympic wheelchair racers Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Paralympics Paralympic track and field athletes for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Paralympics Canadian male alpine skiers Paralympic gold medalists for Canada Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Paralympic medalists in alpine skiing Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Canadian Disability Hall of Fame