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Tristan Knowles
Tristan Malcolm Knowles, OAM[1] (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and silver medals at the 2004 Athens and 2012 London Paralympics. He was a member of the Roller at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, his sixth Games.[2][3] PersonalKnowles was born on 25 April 1983 in Wodonga, Victoria.[4] He became an above the knee amputee as a result of cancer.[4] He went to the University of Wollongong where he earned a degree in commerce.[4] When not playing basketball, he is a financial planning manager with the Commonwealth Bank. He established the Tristan Knowles Kids Cancer Foundation.[5] Basketball Knowles first played wheelchair basketball in 1999.[4] He is a 4 point player and plays in the guard-forward position.[5] State teamKnowles 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.[4] National teamKnowles's first appearance on the national team was in 2001.[4] Paralympics .jpg) Knowles was part of the silver medal-winning Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.[6][7] He was also part of the gold medal-winning Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2008 Summer Paralympics,[8][6] for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia.[1] 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.[9] At the 2012 Summer Paralympics he was part of the Australian men's wheelchair team that won silver.[10] In 2016, he was selected for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, his fourth games,[11] where his team, The Rollers, finished sixth.[12] At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, the Rollers finished fifth with a win–loss record of 4–4.[2][13] At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, he was a member of the Rollers that finished fifth with a win/loss record of 3-3.[14] World ChampionshipsKnowles was part of the 2006 national squad that finished third at the World Championships.[4] 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.[15] He was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship[16][17][18] and 2014 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.[19] In 2018, he was a member of the Rollers that won the bronze medal at 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg, Germany. [20] Club basketballKnowles has played professional wheelchair basketball in Australia, Spain and Italy.[4] As of 2011[update] has played with the Wollongong Roller Hawks for 11 years.[21] When playing for the Roller Hawks, he wears the number 9.[21] In 2003, the Wollongong Roller Hawks, competed in the NWBL Championship and won.[4][22] In the first game of the 2011 season against the Perth Wheelcats, he scored 44 points.[23] His team went on to beat the Perth Wheelcats in the 2011 NWBL Championship. In the finals game, he scored 48 points.[24] In 2010, Knowles was playing club basketball with Valladolid in Spain. [25] He was the team's season MVP in 2011.[26] RecognitionIn 2002, Knowles was named the New South Wales Wheelchair Basketballer of the Year.[22] In 2004, Knowles and Brendan Dowler received the Illawarra Mercury Sports Star of the Year Award.[22] References
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