Tristan Malcolm Knowles, OAM (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian

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 and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics. He competed at

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

, his fifth Games.

Personal

Knowles was born on 25 April 1983 in

Wodonga, Victoria Wodonga ( Waywurru: ''Wordonga'') is a city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga LGA. Its population is approximately 3 ...

. He became an above the knee amputee as a result of cancer. He went to the

University of Wollongong The University of Wollongong (abbreviated as UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2017, the university had an enrolment of ...

where he earned a degree in commerce. When not playing basketball, he is a financial planning manager with the

Commonwealth Bank The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), or CommBank, is an Australian multinational bank with businesses across New Zealand, Asia, the United States and the United Kingdom. It provides a variety of financial services including retail, busines ...

. He established the Tristan Knowles Kids Cancer Foundation.

Basketball

Knowles first played wheelchair basketball in 1999. He is a

4 point player 4-point player is a disability sport classification for wheelchair basketball. Players in this class have normal trunk function but have a reduced level of functioning in one or both of their lower limbs. They may have difficulty with sideways mov ...

and plays in the guard-forward position.

State team

Knowles played for the New South Wales U21 state team in the national competition. The state U21 team won the national championships four years in a row with Knowles as the captain.

National team

Knowles's first appearance on the national team was in 2001.

Paralympics

Knowles was part of the silver medal-winning

Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team The Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team is the men's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Rollers. Australia took the gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Paralymp ...

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 ...

. He was also part of the gold medal-winning

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 ...

, for which he received a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

. In October 2011, Knowles was named as part of the senior national squad that would compete at the Paralympic qualifying tournament for 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 ...

. At the

he was part of the Australian men's wheelchair team that won silver. In 2016, he was selected for the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, his fourth games, where his team, The Rollers, finished sixth. At the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic ...

, the Rollers finished fifth with a win–loss record of 4–4.

World Championships

Knowles was part of the 2006 national squad that finished third at the World Championships. In 2009, he was part of the national side that competed at the Rollers World Challenge. In the match against Japan, he scored 15 points. He was a member of the

that won the gold medal at the

2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship The 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held in Birmingham, Great Britain from 7 to 17 July 2010. Both the men's and women's tournaments were held. The Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. ...

and

2014 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship Separate men's and women's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship tournaments were held in 2014. The women's tournament was held at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, Canada between 20 and 28 June 2014. It was the largest women' ...

s. In 2018, he was a member of the Rollers that won the bronze medal at

2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship The 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held at the Edel-optics.de Arena in Hamburg, Germany, from 16 to 26 August 2018. Both men's and women's tournaments were held, with 12 women's and 16 men's teams competing, representing 19 di ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Club basketball

Knowles has played professional wheelchair basketball in Australia, Spain and Italy. has played with the Wollongong Roller Hawks for 11 years. When playing for the Roller Hawks, he wears the number 9. In 2003, the Wollongong Roller Hawks, competed in the NWBL Championship and won. In the first game of the 2011 season against the Perth Wheelcats, he scored 44 points. His team went on to beat the Perth Wheelcats in the 2011 NWBL Championship. In the finals game, he scored 48 points. In 2010, Knowles was playing club basketball with

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

in Spain. He was the team's season MVP in 2011.

Recognition

In 2002, Knowles was named the New South Wales Wheelchair Basketballer of the Year. In 2004, Knowles and Brendan Dowler received the ''

Illawarra Mercury The ''Illawarra Mercury'' is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second oldest regional newspaper in New South Wal ...

'' Sports Star of the Year Award.

References

External links

*
Basketball Australia Profile
*
Tristan Knowles on Sunrise Channel 7 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knowles, Tristan Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Amputee category Paralympic competitors Australian amputees 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 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics University of Wollongong alumni Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia 1983 births Living people Galatasaray S.K. (wheelchair basketball) players Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics People from Wodonga ACT Academy of Sport alumni Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Sportsmen from Victoria (state) Australian bankers Australian expatriate basketball people in Spain Australian expatriate basketball people in Turkey Australian expatriate basketball people in Italy