Donna Ritchie

Donna Ritchie
Ritchie celebrates with her silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics
Personal information
Nationality Australia
Born (1963-12-28) 28 December 1963
Manly, New South Wales
Medal record
Wheelchair basketball
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place2000 SydneyWomen's wheelchair basketball
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place1994 SydneyWomen's wheelchair basketball
Bronze medal – third place1998 GermanyWomen's wheelchair basketball
Ritchie poises with the ball for a free throw during 2000 Summer Paralympics match

Donna Ritchie (born 28 December 1963 in Manly, New South Wales[1] is an Australian former wheelchair basketball player. She was part of the silver medal-winning Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team[2] at the 2000 Summer Paralympics.[3]

Personal

Richie was born on 28 December 1963 in Manly, New South Wales. Her parents were Ray and Georgina with siblings Sharon and Raymond. Her father, Ray, played first-grade rugby league for the Manly Sea Eagles and served as the team's first-grade coach from 1981 to 1982.[4] At the age of 23, Ritchie broke the T5 and T6 vertebrae in her spine after falling backwards from a stone wall at Manly Beach.[5]

During the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, she met Dutch wheelchair basketballer Koen Jansens.[5] They married in 1999 and have a son and a daughter.[5]

"Paralympians don't have the time to worry about what doesn't work, they maximise what does!'”

— Donna Ritchie[6]

In the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, Ritchie served as the Sydney Paralympic Organising Committee's Community Relations Manager.[7] She has been a board member of the New South Wales Institute of Sport since December 1995.[8][9] As of 2015, she was the general manager of Investment at Telstra Business and continued to serve as a New South Wales Institute of Sport board member.[8]

Basketball career

Whilst recovering from her accident in hospital, Ritchie saw wheelchair basketballers training and this led to her taking up the sport.[5] Her wheelchair basketball classification was 1.5 points.[1] She attended three Paralympics Games—1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta and 2000 Sydney.[1] The Gliders—national women's basketball team—came fourth in 1992 and 1996, and won the silver medal in 2000.[1] Ritchie served as vice-captain at the 1992 Games and captain at both the 1996 and 2000 Games.

Ritchie was a member of the Gliders at three World Championships—1990, 1994 and 1998. The Gliders won the bronze medal in 1994 and 1998.[10]

Recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Australian Media Guide : 2000 Paralympic Games. Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2000.
  2. ↑ "Results – SYDNEY 2000 Paralympic Games – Wheelchair Basketball – Women". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  3. ↑ "Basketball Chronology". Basketball Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "Vale Ray Ritchie". Manly Sea Eagles News, 13 March 2015. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Paralympian wheelchair basketballer Donna Ritchie – Conversations with Richard Fidler". ABC website. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "IPC President stresses importance of para-sport in rehabilitation". International Paralympic Committee Media Centre, 17 November 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Cashman, Richard (2008). Benchamark Games : The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. Sydney: Walla Walla Press. p. 131.
  8. 1 2 "NSWIS Board". New cSouth Wales Institute of Sport website. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  9. ↑ New South Wales Institute of Sport. "Annual Report 1998–1999" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2012. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. 1 2 "Northern Beaches Sporting Hall of Fame". Pittwater Council website. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Manly Pathway of Olympians". Monument Australia. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Donna Ritchie". It's An Honour. Retrieved 21 March 2015.
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