Justin Eveson

Justin Cain Eveson, OAM[1] (born 10 June 1980) is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player who has won Paralympic medals in both sports.

Justin Eveson
2012 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Eveson
Personal information
Full nameJustin Cain Eveson
Nationality Australia
Born (1980-06-10) 10 June 1980
Medal record
Swimming
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney 4x100m freestyle relay 34 pts
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Sydney 4x100m medley relay 34 pts
Wheelchair basketball
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Men's wheelchair basketball
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Men's wheelchair basketball
Silver medal – second place 2012 London Men's wheelchair basketball
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2010 Birmingham Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon Team
Bronze medal – third place 2006 AmsterdamTeam

Personal

Eveson was born on 10 June 1980,[2] and is from the Perth suburb of Victoria Park.[3] In 1993, when he was 12 years old, his right leg was amputated below the knee after a lawn aerating machine accident.[4][5] Prior to his accident, he had played basketball.[5] In 2010, he was the patron for the Australian University Games.[4] He works as a fitness instructor,[3] and his personal hero is his father.[3] He also serves as the Membership and Participation Officer for Wheelchair Sports Western Australia.[5] Outside of competitive basketball and swimming, he plays golf.[5]

Swimming
Action shot of Eveson during the 200 m medley SM10 at the 2000 Summer Paralympics

Eveson first started competing in disabled sport in 1995, doing swimming and wheelchair basketball. Around that time, he decided to focus on swimming.[3] From 1996 to 1999, he was part of the Wheelchair Sports WA Association Junior Sports Star program as a swimmer.[4] He competed in the 2000 Summer Paralympics, where he won a 4 × 100 m freestyle relay silver and 4 × 100 m medley relay bronze medal.[2][3][6]

Basketball

Eveson's player classification is 4.5 and he plays power forward.[2] Eveson first started playing wheelchair basketball in 1995.[3] His ability to play has been supported by the Western Australian Institute of Sport Individual Athlete Support Program.[7][8] In 2009, the basketball teams that Eveson played for won every tournament he was part of at a club and national team level.[4]

National team

In 2002, Eveson made his first appearance on the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team.[3][5]

Paralympics
Eveson at the 2012 London Paralympics

I feel that to win Paralympic gold is one of the great measures of success and considering the amount of effort put in, it feels incredible to have been part of that achievement.

Justin Eveson[3]

Eveson was part of the silver medal-winning Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2004 Summer Paralympics,[9][10] and the gold medal-winning Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2008 Summer Paralympics,[10][11] for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia.[1] He was the team's leading scorer.[2]

At the 2012 Summer Paralympics he was part of the Australian men's wheelchair team that won silver.[12]

Other competitions
Eveson at the 2012 London Paralympics

In 2006, Eveson was part of the squad that won a bronze medal at the World Championships.[2] In 2008, he was part of the team that took silver at the Beijing Paralympic test event.[2] That year, he was the captain of the gold winning Australian side at the Paralympic World Cup held in Manchester, England.[2] In 2009, he was part of the Australian gold winning IWBF Asia-Oceania Championship side and the 2009 Rollers World Challenge team that won gold.[2] At the tournament, he scored 25 points, had 5 assists and 13 rebounds.[7] He was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team that competed at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship[13][14] that won a gold medal.[15] He and fellow Australian teammate Shaun Norris were recognised for their performance at the tournament by being named as one of the World All-Star Five for the tournament.[16] He was a member of the Rollers team that won the gold medal at the 2014 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.[17]

Club basketball

Eveson has played professional wheelchair basketball in Australia, Italy, Spain and Turkey.[5] In 2001, Eveson made his club basketball debut with the National Wheelchair Basketball League (NWBL)'s Perth Wheelcats.[5] He has won three European Champions League Cups in a row.[5] In 2007, he was playing club basketball in Australia for the Perth Wheelcats. His team won the league's Championship that year, and Evenson was named the MVP for Championship game. That year, the Wheelcats were also the World Club Champions.[2] In 2008, he was playing club basketball in Turkey for Galatasaray. That year, his team won the European Champions Cup. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Championship match and was named as part of the All-Star Five for the tournament.[2] In 2010, he played for the Perth Wheelcats when it won the league's Championships.[4] In 2011, he was playing for the Perth Wheelcats. In the first game of the season against the Wollongong Roller Hawks, he scored 35 points.[18]

Recognition

Eveson won the Western Australian Wheelchair Sports Star-of-the-year award with Brad Ness in 2003.[19] In 2008, he received the Sandy Blythe Medal given for the International Wheelchair Player of the Year.[2] In 2009, Laureus World Athlete of the Year Awards named him as one of their finalists.[16] In 2010, he was named one of The West Australian ANZ Sports Star Nominees in the wheelchair basketball category.[20]

References
  1. "Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)". ABC News. 27 January 2009. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  2. "Justin Eveson". Basketball Australia. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  3. "Justin Eveson". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  4. Alviani, Nicholas (29 September 2010). "Patrons for the AUG, Justin Eveson". University Sport Australia. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  5. "Justin Eveson". Wheelchair Sports Western Australia. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  6. "Justin Eveson – IPC Historical Results Database". International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  7. "WAIS Wheelchair Basketball Athletes Gain Gold". Western Australian Institute of Sport. 20 October 2009. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  8. "Individual Athlete Support Program". Western Australian Institute of Sport. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  9. "Results – ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games – Wheelchair Basketball – Men". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  10. "Basketball Chronology". Basketball Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  11. McGarry, Andrew (4 September 2008). "Event guide: Wheelchair basketball". ABC. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  12. "Men's Wheelchair Basketball Results". London 2012 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  13. "Basketball Australia : 2010 WC Team". Basketball Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  14. "Newsletter 2010 July 2010". Australian Athletes With a Disability. July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  15. "Rollers Int History". Basketball Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  16. "Wheelchair Sports WA" (PDF). Western Australia Sports Federation. 29 October 2010. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  17. "Rollers are back to back World Champions". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  18. Dimozantos, Emily (23 June 2011). "Wheelcats Triumphant in First Game Back". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  19. "About Us". Wheelchair Sports WA. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  20. "2010 The West Australian ANZ Sports Star Nominees" (PDF). The West Australian. 2010. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
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