Tom O'Neill-Thorne (born 8 April 1997) is a 3.0 point

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 from Australia. He was part of the Rollers team that won the

2014 Incheon World Wheelchair Basketball Championship The 2014 Men's Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was the 12th edition of the Wheelchair Basketball World Championship. It was hosted in Incheon, South Korea. Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, Australia won its second tit ...

. He was a member of the Rollers at the

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 ...

, his third Games.

Early life

Tom O'Neill-Thorne was born on 8 April 1997, with

arthrogryposis multiplex Arthrogryposis (AMC) describes congenital joint contracture in two or more areas of the body. It derives its name from Greek, literally meaning 'curving of joints' (', 'joint'; ', late Latin form of late Greek ', 'hooking'). Children born with one ...

, a congenital condition, which he describes succinctly as: "my legs didn't grow properly". By the time he was two years old, he required a wheelchair, but watching the

2000 Summer Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

on television, he decided that he wanted to become an athlete.

Basketball career

O'Neill-Thorne took up

when he was nine, when a local competition was established. He became a member of the Queensland Junior team, then the development squad at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

, and, in 2012, at age 14, of the Queensland Spinning Bullets in the National Wheelchair Basketball League, where he was coached by Tom Kyle. As a 16 year old, in 2013, he averaged 17.1 points per game (eight in the league), 6.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game (sixth in the league). That year O'Neill-Thorne was selected for his first international tournament, with the U23 team (the Spinners) in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, where the team won gold. In 2013, he was part of the Spinners team at the IWBF U23 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

, Turkey, where they won bronze. Later that year he made his debut with the senior national team (the Rollers) at the 2013 Asia-Oceania Zone Championships in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, and the following year was part of the Rollers team that won gold at the

. He was the youngest ever Roller to play in a World Championship. By 2016, O'Neill-Thorne was averaging 25.86 points per game with the Spinning Bullets. In June 2016, he toured Great Britain for the 2016 Continental Clash against Canada, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States. The Rollers were defeated by the United States, and won silver. In July, he was selected for the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. He was one of five Rollers selected for their first Paralympics where they finished sixth. 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 Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

where he averaged 14.5 points, four rebounds and three assists per game. At the

2020 Tokyo 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 ...

, the Rollers finished fifth with a win–loss record of 4–4. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, he was a member of the Rollers that finished fifth with a win/loss record of 3-3. O'Neill-Thorne was awarded the Northern Territory Government Sportsperson of the Year at the 2017 Northern Territory Sports Awards.

References

External links

Tom O'Neill-Thorne
at

Basketball Australia Basketball Australia (BA), officially registered as BA Limited, is the governing body for basketball in Australia. Established in 1939, BA is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing basketball at all levels in Australia. B ...

archive
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill-Thorne, Tom 1997 births Living people Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Australia Wheelchair basketball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Point guards