Troy Sachs, OAM (born 3 December 1975) 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. He competed at five

Paralympic Games 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 ...

from 1992 to 2008, where he won three medals. Sachs won two national league championships in Australia, three national league championships in the United States, one national league championship in Germany, and an

André Vergauwen Cup Results Titles by club Titles by country Medals (1977-2022) See also *Wheelchair basketball *IWBF Champions Cup *Willi Brinkmann Cup *IWBF Challenge Cup *Kitakyushu Champions Cup The Kitakyushu Champions Cup commemorates the 2002 Gold Cu ...

championship with Italian club Tabu Cantu.

Personal

Sachs was born in the Wollongong suburb of Bulli on 3 December 1975. He was born without a

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

and with a deformed foot, and the affected leg was amputated below the knee when he was two and a half years old; he has worn a

prosthetic leg In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

since then. In 2006, Sachs had shoulder surgery and required extensive rehabilitation that threatened to derail his ability to compete in the 2008 Paralympics. On 11 August 2010, Sachs competed in the Sydney City2Surf competitions, where he raised nearly $2,000 in support of Wheelchair Sport New South Wales's Junior Sports Program. He is the founder and director of Team Sachs, a fitness business, which he established in 1997, and has been on the board of directors of the

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

since 2008. He has been married to Philippa Margan since 2014; he was previously married to wheelchair basketballer Jane Sachs. He has a daughter and a son. In 2017, he coached the Sydney Metro Blues to a gold medal in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League.

Competitive basketball

Sachs' wheelchair basketball classification is 4.5 and his position is centre. He started playing wheelchair basketball in 1991, at the age of 15, after having been introduced to the sport at high school by a visiting lecturer on spine safety. 08 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Basketball Troy Sachs Nick Morris

08 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Basketball Troy Sachs Nick Morris

National team

Sachs made his first team appearance for the

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 ...

in 1992. In 1998, he competed at the World Championships, where the Rollers finished fourth. In 2002, he was part of the Australian national side that finished fourth at the World Championships. In 2004, he was part of the Australian team that finished first at the Roosevelt Cup. Sachs was part of the gold medal-winning team at the Kiakyushu Cup held in Japan in 2005. He did not compete for the national team at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup due to European club commitments and did not compete in the 2006 World Championships due to injury.

Paralympic Games

141100 - Wheelchair basketball Troy Sachs free throw - 3b - 2000 Sydney match photo

Sachs was part of the Australian men's wheelchair basketball team at the 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, and

2008 Beijing The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Paralympics; he won gold medals with his team in 1996 and 2008, a silver medal in 2004, and his team finished 8th and 5th in 1992 and 2000, respectively. At the 1996 Games, in the gold medal match, Sachs scored 42 points, a world record for the number of points scored. At the 2000 and 2004 games, Sachs captained the Australian national team. At the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, he led his team in total scoring across the whole of the competition, with a score of 72–60 when the team defeated Canada. In the tournament, he averaged 5.4 points a game, but scored 19 total points in the final. Sachs was the only 2008 team member who had also been on the 1996 gold medal-winning team.

Club basketball

46 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Basketball Troy Sachs

Australia

In 1998, Sachs competed for the West Sydney Slicks, where he helped guide the team to a league championship. From 1998 to 2001, he was the Australian National Wheelchair Basketball League's MVP, part of the All Star Five, and highest scorer. In 2001 he helped the West Sydney Razorbacks win the championship. In 2002, he was once again named to the NWBL All-Star Five. In 2008, Sachs played for the West Sydney Razorbacks.

Germany

In 2003, Sachs helped the RSC Rollis Zwickau become the German Cup Champions.

Italy

Sachs played with the Italian club side Tabu Cantu in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, he helped guide to team to a first-place finish in the European League and the following year, to a third-place finish.

Spain

In 2008, Sachs played for Fundacion Polaris World BSR.

Turkey

Sachs joined the Turkish team,

Galatasaray Wheelchair Basketball Team Galatasaray Wheelchair Basketball Team is the wheelchair basketball section of Galatasaray SK, a major sports club in Istanbul, Turkey. Galatasaray play matches in 2.200-seat arena, called the Ahmet Cömert Sport Hall. History Galatasaray Wheelc ...

for the 2009–10 season.

United States

Sachs played club wheelchair basketball for the Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks from 1998 to 2000. In all three years, the team won the league championships. In 1998 and 1999, he was named as part of the All Star Five in the US

National Wheelchair Basketball Association National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) is composed of 181 wheelchair basketball teams within twenty-two conferences. Founded in 1949 by Timothy Nugent, the NWBA today consists of men's, women's, intercollegiate, and youth teams throug ...

Recognition

In 1996, Sachs was awarded for the Most Outstanding Individual Performance at the Games by the

. In 1997 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 ...

for his gold medal in Atlanta. He was a finalist for the Young Australian of the Year Award in 1997 and 1999. In 1999, he was named as one of Cosmopolitan's 30 most successful people under the age of thirty. He received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

in 2000. Sachs was inducted into the

New South Wales Hall of Champions The New South Wales Hall of Champions is a museum at Australia Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by State Sports Centre Trust (State Government). The museum's collection was added to the New South Wa ...

in November 2014. In September 2017,

Basketball Australia Basketball Australia is the governing and controlling body of basketball in Australia, responsible for the development and promotion of the sport at all levels. Basketball Australia sanctions Australia's two professional leagues, the Nation ...

announced that Sachs would be inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2018. In October 2017, Sachs was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

as an athlete member.

References

External links