Travis Gaertner

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]

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]

• Paralympic profile