Patrick Anderson (born 22 August 1979) is a Canadian

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.

Personal life

Anderson was born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, and he grew up in

Fergus, Ontario Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, a township within Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. It lies on the Grand River about 18 km NNW of Guelph. The population of this community at the time of the 2016 Census was 20,767, ...

. At the age of nine he was hit by a drunk driver, and as a result lost both his legs below the knee. Because of this, he is classified as a 4.5-point player for competition.

Basketball

Anderson is widely considered to be one of the best wheelchair basketball players in the world. He began playing the sport in 1990 and was first chosen for the Canadian national team in 1997. He led the Canadian Junior Men's National Team to victories in the World Championships in 1997 and 2001, and was named

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

at both competitions. At senior level he was a member of the team that won a bronze medal at the 1998

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and was chosen as a member of the all-star team for the event. In 2000 he represented Canada at the Paralympics for the first time at the Sydney Games. The Canadian team won the gold medal in the men's tournament. He won his second Paralympic gold medal 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 ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece, where the Canadian team defeated Australia in the final. 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 ...

, China, Anderson was a member of the Canadian team who won the silver medal after losing to the team from Australia in the final. After the 2008 Games, he retired from basketball and moved to New York to attend university in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a professional musician. Having come out of retirement in 2011, Anderson was selected to compete for

Canada at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Canada competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. A total of 145 athletes were sent by the Canadian Paralympic Committee to compete in 15 sports. The country won 31 medals in total and fin ...

in London, United Kingdom. Canada advanced through the group stages of the tournament, beat Spain in the quarterfinals and defeated hosts Great Britain in the semifinals to reach the gold medal match against Australia. In the final Anderson scored 34 points, had 10 rebounds and 8 assists as Canada won the gold medal with a 64–58 victory.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Patrick 1979 births Living people Canadian men's wheelchair basketball players Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Canada Paralympic gold medalists for Canada Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2020 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 Illinois Fighting Illini Paralympic athletes Galatasaray S.K. (wheelchair basketball) players