Travis Gaertner
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| Nationality |  Canada  United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | January 16, 1980 Kitchener, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | 2003, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | gaertnergold | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Travis Gaertner (born January 16, 1980) is a Canadian-American actuary. He previously competed with Team Canada in the Paralympic Games in wheelchair basketball, where he won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Paralympics and the 2004 Summer Paralympics.
Early life and education
[edit]Gaertner was born on January 16, 1980, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada to parents Diana and Jonathan.[1] He was born with a congenital disease causing him to be born without a left and half a right leg.[2] Until he was in fifth grade, Gaertner used a prosthetic leg but eventually switched to a wheelchair for better mobility.[3] When Gaertner was twelve years old, Jonathan died of cancer and he decided to take up wheelchair basketball.[4] By Grade 6, he qualified for the Manitoba Ramblers of the Manitoba Wheelchair Sports Association, and later joined the Manitoba senior wheelchair team. His play caught the attention of a Canadian coach who invited him to try out for the Canadian Paralympic team.[3]
Career
[edit]Gaertner joined Team Canada in 1998 and was selected to play for Canada at the 2000 Summer Paralympics.[5] After returning to the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign with a gold medal,[6] he helped the Manitoba Rolling Thunder win their first Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League championship title.[7] In 2002, he was one of four students who received the Wooddy Scholarship Award as someone who earned both academic and athletic acclaim.[8]
Later, he helped the Winnipeg Thunder win their third consecutive Canadian Wheelchair Basketball League championship title.[9] In 2004, Gaertner was named to Team Canada to compete at the 2004 Summer Paralympics[10] where he won gold.[11]
Gaertner earned his American citizenship in 2012 and qualified to compete with Team USA.[12] In May 2017, Gaertner began practicing handcycling under the coaching of Will Groulx and Tom Davis.[13] In 2018, he was named to the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Team for the 2018 UCI Road World Championships.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "TRAVIS GAERTNER". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ "Travis burns up summer streets aboard specially-built bicycle". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg. March 15, 1986.
- ^ a b "Miles Macdonnell student aims for Sydney wheelchair basketball tourney". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg. February 12, 1997.
- ^ "He has no legs, but it's hard to feel sorry for him". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg. June 2, 2000.
- ^ "Michelle Stilwell, Travis Gaertner, Joe Johnson". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg. September 13, 2000.
- ^ "After Sydney: tracking down our Olympians". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg. January 3, 2001.
- ^ "Wheelchair athletes capture Canadian title". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg. April 24, 2001.
- ^ "Wooddy Scholarship Award" (PDF). math.illinois.edu/. Fall 2002. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ "Pair perform magic for Thunder". Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg. April 23, 2003.
- ^ "CANADIAN WHEELCHAIR BASKETBALL TEAMS SELECTED FOR ATHENS" (PDF). bcwbs.ca. Summer 2004. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ "ATHENS 2004". cscm.ca. April 10, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ Murphy, Dan (January 7, 2019). "Travis Gaertner's Quest for More Paralympic Gold". scifit.com. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ Lieberman, Stuart (August 25, 2018). "Travis Gaertner Goes From Canadian Wheelchair Basketball Champion To American Para-cycling Hopeful". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
- ^ "U.S. Paralympics Cycling Announced 2018 Road World Championships Team to Include Local Burien Washington Handcyclist". PRWeb. July 19, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
External links
[edit]- 1980 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario
- Wheelchair basketball players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Wheelchair basketball players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic gold medalists for Canada
- Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Cyclists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic medalists in cycling
- Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States
- Canadian men's wheelchair basketball players
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball
- Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Canada
- 21st-century Canadian sportsmen