Tristan Knowles

Tristan Malcolm Knowles, OAM[1] (born 25 April 1983) is an Australian wheelchair basketball player and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics. He competed at 2020 Summer Paralympics, his fifth Games.[2]

Tristan Knowles
Tristan Knowles in 2019
Personal information
Full nameTristan Malclom Knowles
Nationality Australia
Born (1983-04-25) 25 April 1983
Sport
ClubKilsyth Cobras
Medal record
Wheelchair basketball
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Men's wheelchair basketball
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Men's wheelchair basketball
Silver medal – second place 2012 London Men's wheelchair basketball
World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Amsterdam Team
Gold medal – first place 2010 Birmingham Team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon Team
Bronze medal – third place2018 HamburgTeam

Personal

Knowles was born on 25 April 1983 in Wodonga, Victoria.[3] He became an above the knee amputee as a result of cancer.[3] He went to the University of Wollongong where he earned a degree in commerce.[3] When not playing basketball, he is a financial planning manager with the Commonwealth Bank. He established the Tristan Knowles Kids Cancer Foundation.[4]

Basketball
Tristan Knowles swaps a wheel mid-match during the 2010 World Wheelchair Basketball Championship.

Knowles first played wheelchair basketball in 1999.[3] He is a 4 point player and plays in the guard-forward position.[4]

State team

Knowles played for the New South Wales U21 state team in the national competition. The state U21 team won the national championships four years in a row with Knowles as the captain.[3]

National team

Knowles's first appearance on the national team was in 2001.[3]

Paralympics
Knowles at the 2012 London Paralympics
Knowles at the 2012 London Paralympics

Knowles was part of the silver medal-winning Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.[5][6] He was also part of the gold medal-winning Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2008 Summer Paralympics,[7][5] for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia.[1]

In October 2011, Knowles was named as part of the senior national squad that would compete at the Paralympic qualifying tournament for the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[8] At the 2012 Summer Paralympics he was part of the Australian men's wheelchair team that won silver.[9] In 2016, he was selected for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, his fourth games,[10] where his team, The Rollers, finished sixth.[11]

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, the Rollers finished fifth with a win–loss record of 4–4.[2][12]

World Championships

Knowles was part of the 2006 national squad that finished third at the World Championships.[3] In 2009, he was part of the national side that competed at the Rollers World Challenge. In the match against Japan, he scored 15 points.[13] He was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship[14][15][16] and 2014 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.[17] In 2018, he was a member of the Rollers that won the bronze medal at 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Hamburg, Germany. [18]

Club basketball

Knowles has played professional wheelchair basketball in Australia, Spain and Italy.[3] As of 2011 has played with the Wollongong Roller Hawks for 11 years.[19] When playing for the Roller Hawks, he wears the number 9.[19] In 2003, the Wollongong Roller Hawks, competed in the NWBL Championship and won.[3][20] In the first game of the 2011 season against the Perth Wheelcats, he scored 44 points.[21] His team went on to beat the Perth Wheelcats in the 2011 NWBL Championship. In the finals game, he scored 48 points.[22]

In 2010, Knowles was playing club basketball with Valladolid in Spain. [23] He was the team's season MVP in 2011.[24]

Recognition

In 2002, Knowles was named the New South Wales Wheelchair Basketballer of the Year.[20] In 2004, Knowles and Brendan Dowler received the Illawarra Mercury Sports Star of the Year Award.[20]

References
  1. "Knowles, Tristan Malcolm". It's an Honour. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
  2. "Standards And Culture To Drive Revamped Rollers". Paralympics Australia. 21 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  3. "Tristan Knowles". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 5 August 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  4. "Tristan Knowles". Basketball Australia website. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  5. "Basketball Chronology". Basketball Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  6. "Results - ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games - Wheelchair Basketball - Men". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  7. McGarry, Andrew (4 September 2008). "Event guide: Wheelchair basketball". ABC. Archived from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  8. Gold, David (28 October 2011). "Australia name wheelchair basketball squads for London 2012 qualifying event". Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  9. "Men's Wheelchair Basketball Results". London 2012 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  10. "Australian Rollers ready for Rio 2016 revenge". Australian Paralympic Committee. 19 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  11. "Hosts shock Rollers to end Rio campaign". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  12. "Rollers end Tokyo campaign fifth". New South Wales Institute of Sport. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  13. AAP. "Rollers roll over Japan". Sydney, Australia: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  14. "Basketball Australia : 2010 WC Team". Basketball Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  15. "Newsletter 2010 July 2010". Australian Athletes With a Disability. July 2010. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
  16. "Rollers Int History". Basketball Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 11 September 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. "Rollers earn bronze at the 2018 World Championships". Basketball Australia website. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  19. "Tristan Knowles". Wollongong Roller Hawks. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  20. "2004: Brendan Dowler and Tristan Knowles (wheelchair basketball)". Illawarra Mercury. 3 February 2004. p. 9. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  21. Dimozantos, Emily (23 June 2011). "Wheelcats Triumphant in First Game Back". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  22. "Wollongong Roller Hawks claim 2011 NWBL Title". Basketball Australia. 19 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  23. "FOUR NSW TEAM REPRESENTATIVES NAMED IN ROLLERS TEAM TO PLAY ENGLAND" (PDF). New South Wales Basketball. 29 June 2010. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
  24. Keeble, Tim (16 September 2011). "Roller Hawks ready to rumble". Illawarra Mercury. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
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