Renee del Colle (born in either 1967 and 1968) is a Canadian wheelchair basketball player who played for the

Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team The Canada women's national wheelchair basketball team is one of Canada's most successful national sporting teams. It is the only national women's wheelchair basketball team to have won three consecutive gold medals at the Paralympic Games in 199 ...

in international competition. She won two Paralympic gold medals representing the women's national wheelchair basketball squad at both the

1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...

and 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 ...

as well as two victories in the final of the

Wheelchair Basketball World Championship The IWBF World Wheelchair Basketball Championship is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men's and the women's national teams of the members of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation ( IWBF), the sport' ...

in each of 1994 and 1998.

Biography

Del Colle was born in either 1967 and 1968, and comes from Calgary,

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 ...

. Until the age of 12, she played regularly organized basketball in high school in Edmonton but stopped being involved in the sport following injury and illness and failed to be drafted in the Canada national junior women's basketball squad. This was before Del Colle was diagnosed with the incurable autoimmune disease known as lupus in which the antibodies in her blood attack separate organs. She was listed at ; Del Colle did not regularly use a wheelchair while walking but she did in competition. At the age of 21, she took up

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 ...

, and learnt of the existence of the

in 1991. Del Colle signed up for a tryout with the team and was signed to the 1992 team within half a year. She worked as a news anchor and reporter at multiple Albertan radio stations for half a decade. Following her joining the Northern Lights wheelchair basketball squad, Del Colle job shared before she left the radio business to get a job working flexible hours at an Edmonton bakery when she was chosen to play for the national team in 1992. She was part of the Canada team that claimed the

in the United Kingdom by beating the United States in the 1994 final. She partook in the women's tournament in the sport of wheelchair basketball at the

in Atlanta, United States. Del Colle contributed to the team finishing first in their group by winning all three of their games and subsequently advancing to the final of the competition. She helped Canada to claim the gold medal in the final match that was held on August 25, 1996. In August 1997, she and her husband Darcy moved to Edmonton from Calgary. Del Colle was selected as one of five Calgary athletes to represent the Canadian team that competed at the quadrennial Wheelchair Basketball World Championship held in late October 1998 in Sydney, Australia. She scored 18 points as well as three

blocked shots In basketball, a block or blocked shot occurs when a defensive player legally deflects a field goal attempt from an offensive player to prevent a score. The defender is not allowed to make contact with the offensive player's hand (unless the de ...

and 11

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

in Canada's 53–25 semi-final victory over Japan to face the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in the final. In the final, Del Colle scored 23 points in helping Canada beat the United States 54–38 for the gold medal and their second successive women's world title win. At the 2000 Summer Paralympics, she played for the Canada national wheelchair basketball team in the women's wheelchair basketball tournament as one of five disabled athletes from Calgary, and she first competed in the round-robin group opposite Germany, Japan and Mexico. The team finished first in their group and reached the final that they won to earn Del Colle the second (and final) Paralympic gold medal of her career. She contributed Canada's second-highest points total of 10 during the final.

Recognition

In 2001, Del Colle received City of Calgary Recognition to honor her achievements in wheelchair basketball.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Del Colle, Renee Living people People with lupus Canadian women's wheelchair basketball players Wheelchair basketball players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Canada Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Paralympic gold medalists for Canada Basketball players from Calgary 20th-century Canadian women 21st-century Canadian women Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)