Ixhelt González (born June 1, 2004) is an American

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

player and a member of the United States women's national wheelchair basketball team. She represented the United States at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

Career

At the age of 13, González represented the United States at the

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 ...

and finished in sixth place in the tournament. She was the youngest member on the team. González represented the United States at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, 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 Inte ...

in the wheelchair basketball women's tournament and won a bronze medal. She again represented the United States at the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships and won a bronze medal. In November 2023 she competed at the

2023 Parapan American Games The 2023 Parapan American Games, officially the VII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Santiago 2023 Parapan-Am Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities. It celebrated the tradition of the Parapan Am ...

in the wheelchair basketball tournament and won a gold medal. As a result, the team earned an automatic bid to the

. On March 30, 2024, she was named to Team USA's roster to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Personal life

González attends St. Francis de Sales High School in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. She was diagnosed with femoral anteversion, which causes her hips and feet to twist inward but does not require her to use a wheelchair in her daily life. She started playing wheelchair basketball with the Chicago Park District's Skyhawks team.

References

2004 births Living people Sportspeople from Oak Lawn, Illinois Basketball players from Cook County, Illinois American women's wheelchair basketball players Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for the United States Wheelchair basketball players at the 2023 Parapan American Games Wheelchair basketball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2023 Parapan American Games 21st-century American sportswomen Parapan American Games medalists in wheelchair basketball Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States {{US-Paralympic-medalist-stub