Dave Durepos

David "Dave" Durepos (born July 14, 1968) is a Canadian retired wheelchair basketball player. He is married to fellow Paralympian Sabrina Pettinicchi. As a member of Team Canada, Durepos competed in five Paralympic Games where he won 3 gold medals along with one silver. On September 25, 2012, the City of Fredericton proclaimed that date to be Dave Durepos Day.

Dave Durepos
Medal record
Men's wheelchair basketball
Representing  Canada
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens Men's team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Men's team
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Men's team

Early life

Durepos was born on July 14, 1968, in Fredericton, New Brunswick.[1] He attended and graduated from the New Brunswick Community College in 1984 with a degree in Steel Fabrication.[2] After suffering from a spinal cord injury due to a motorcycle crash in 1988, he lost the use of his legs.[3]

Career

Durepos joined Canada men's national wheelchair basketball team in 1994.[4] He served as Captain for Team Canada in the 2000 Summer Paralympics where they won their first Paralympic gold medal.[5] As a result, Durepos became the first New Brunswick player to bring home an Olympic or Paralympic gold medal.[1]

In the following years, he joined the National Wheelchair Basketball Association where he led the Milwaukee Bucks to a Final Four Championship title in 2002 and became the first Canadian to be named MVP in Division I of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.[1] He also received Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal.[6] In 2004, Durepos was selected to compete at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens.[7] While still a member of the Canada National Team, Durepos was named MVP back-to-back at the Canadian National Championships in 2006 and 2007.[1] Before retiring, Durepos helped lead Canada to a gold medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games.[8] After retiring in 2012, the City of Fredericton proclaimed that September 25 would be christened Dave Durepos Day.[9] Two years later, he was inducted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.[10] He later coached New Brunswick's Canada Games wheelchair basketball team alongside his wife Sabrina Pettinicchi in 2015.[11]

References
  1. "Dave Durepos". wheelchairbasketball.ca. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  2. "2017 Alumni Award Recipients". nbcc.ca. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  3. "Fredericton wheelchair basketball star to retire". cbc.ca. June 21, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  4. "CPC celebrates the career of Paralympic wheelchair basketball champion David Durepos". independentsportsnews.com. January 15, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  5. "Team Canada Bids Farewell To Wheelchair Basketball Great Dave Durepos". wheelchairbasketball.ca. January 15, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  6. "MR. DAVE DUREPOS". gg.ca. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  7. "Athens 2004 Get Pumped for the Paralympics!". abilities.ca. September 17, 2004. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  8. Kingston, Gary (September 8, 2012). "Canada reclaims gold in men's wheelchair basketball against Australia". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  9. "City of Fredericton Proclaims September 25, 2012 as Dave Durepos Day". wheelchairbasketball.ca. September 24, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  10. "New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame announces 2014 inductees". gnb.ca. February 28, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  11. "Wheelchair Sports New Brunswick Announces Roster for 2015 Canada Winter Games Wheelchair Basketball Team". wheelchairbasketball.ca. January 9, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
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