Misty Thomas (born 1 July 1964) is a Canadian

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 ...

player. She competed in the women's tournament at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, and became the first Canadian to compete at both the Olympics and the

Paralympics 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 impaired ...

Biography

Thomas was born in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, before moving to

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

when she was five years old. Thomas took up basketball as a student at

Vincent Massey High School Vincent Massey High School is a high school in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, and part of the Brandon School Division. The school opened in 1960 and it currently has more than 1100 students. The school is named for former Governor General of Canada V ...

, and also became a junior champion in volleyball and badminton. At school, she was the leading points-scorer, and was part of the team that won the Ontario Basketball Championship in 1980. Thomas then went to

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

(UNLV ), where she also became the top scorer for the basketball team. Thomas was part of the Canadian team at the

1983 Summer Universiade The 1983 Summer Universiade, also known as the 1983 World University Games or XII Summer Universiade, took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between July 1 and 12, 1983. Over 2400 athletes from 73 countries participated. It was the first time Can ...

, the

, and the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas c ...

, winning a bronze medal at the latter. However, in 1985, Thomas suffered an ACL tear, which would require multiple knee operations, and go on to end her career. Thomas went on to work with the Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Association, and played with the national wheelchair team. In 2008, Thomas represented Canada 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 ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, competing in the wheelchair basketball tournament. Thomas was inducted into the UNLV Hall of Fame in 1997, and in 1998, became the youngest player to be inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Misty 1964 births Living people Canadian women's basketball players Olympic basketball players for Canada Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics UNLV Lady Rebels basketball players Basketball players from Los Angeles American emigrants to Canada