Jason Joseph Dunkerley (born August 21, 1977, in

Newtownards Newtownards is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtownard ...

, Northern Ireland) is a Canadian

Paralympian 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 ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

competing mainly in category T11 and T12 middle-distance events.

Career

He competed 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 ...

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 ...

, where he won a silver medal in the T11 men's 1500 metres event and went out in the first round of the T12 men's 800 metres event. 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, Greece, he won a silver medal in the men's 1500 metres - T11 event and went out in the first round of the men's 800 metres - T12 event. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

in Beijing,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, he won a bronze medal in the men's 1500 metres - T11 event and went out in the first round of the men's 800 metres - T12 event. At 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 ...

in London, United Kingdom, he won a bronze medal in the men's 1500 metres - T11 and a silver medal in the men's 5000 metres - T11.

Personal life

Jason Dunkerley was born in Newtownards, Northern Ireland with

Leber's congenital amaurosis Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life. It affects about 1 in 40,000 newborns. LCA was first described by Theodor Leber in the 19th century. It should not be co ...

, a rare inherited eye disease that appears at birth or in the first few months of life, and affects around 1 in 80,000 of the population. He has two brothers, Jonathan and Chris, who both inherited the same eye condition. After emigrating to

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

from Northern Ireland with his family in 1991, he attended the W. Ross Macdonald School for Students who are Visually Impaired, Blind and Deafblind, where students were encouraged to get involved in sports. He graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in

International Development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications ...

. Jason's brother Jonathan represented Canada in the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics in the sprint events.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkerley, Jason 1977 births Living people Northern Ireland emigrants to Canada Paralympic track and field athletes of Canada People from Newtownards Athletes from Ottawa Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada Canadian male middle-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2007 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games Visually impaired middle-distance runners Paralympic middle-distance runners