Sharon Hedrick

Sharon Hedrick did not get involved in wheelchair sports until she was 19,[1] when she was seen training her dog at a local fair and encouraged to join Temple University's athletic team.[2]

She went on to play for the wheelchair basketball team at the University of Illinois, winning six MVP awards.[4]

In 1977 Hedrick was the first female wheelchair competitor in the Boston Marathon; she finished with a time of 3:48:51.[5]

In 1980 Hedrick competed in the Paralympic Games for the first time as a wheelchair basketballer. The team gained the bronze medal. Hedricks did not compete in the 1984 team which failed to bring a medal home, but returned to win gold and then silver in the two subsequent games in Seoul 1988, and Barcelona 1992.

In 1984 Hedrick turned down a place on the Paralympic team [2] to become the first wheelchair athlete in the world to win a gold track medal at an Olympic Games by breaking the world record.[6] She finished with a time of 2:15.73.[2] She successfully defended this title at the following games in South Korea.

1990 saw the first Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in St. Etienne, France. Hedrick claimed gold as part of the winning USA team.[7]

In 1977 Hedrick won the Top Female Athlete Award at the National Wheelchair Games.[8] In 1985 she was presented with the Southland Olympia Award, which recognizes excellence in sport and the embodiment of the 'amateur ideal'.[9] Hedrick was the first wheelchair athlete to be presented this award.[10] Hedrick was awarded the Jack Gerhardt Outstanding Wheelchair Athlete Award in 1988.[11] Also in 1988 Hedrick was the recipient of the Athlete of the Year Award from USOC.[8][11]

In 1989 the Women's Sports Foundation nominated Hedrick in their list of the Top 10 Women Athletes in America.[8]

In 1991 Hedrick's alma mater, Hatboro-Horsham High School, inducted her into their Athletics Hall of Fame[8]

In 1992 Hedrick was inducted into the WASUSA Hall Of Fame.[8][12]

In 1994 Hedrick became the first woman to be inducted into the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame.[8][11]

2012 saw Hedrick becoming a member of Barack Obama's Presidential Delegation to the London Paralympic Games alongside fellow wheelchair athlete Jean Driscoll.[8][10]

Hedrick is married to Dr. Brad Hedrick, a basketball coach and Director of the Division of Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES) at the University of Illinois. Hedrick was coached by her husband in the USA Women's Wheelchair Basketball team in 1988 when the team won their first gold.[1] They have one adopted son, Nathan.[2]

Hedrick is now retired [8]

• Sharon Hedrick at the International Paralympic Committee