Tracey Ferguson

Tracey Ferguson

Tracey Ferguson
Personal information
Nationality	Canada
Born	(1974-09-07) September 7, 1974 Holland Landing, Ontario
Height	5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
Sport
Disability class	3.0
College team	University of Illinois
Club	Edmonton Inferno/Northern Lights
Medal record Wheelchair basketball Paralympic Games 1992 Summer Paralympics Women's wheelchair basketball 1996 Summer Paralympics Women's wheelchair basketball 2000 Summer Paralympics Women's wheelchair basketball 2004 Summer Paralympics Women's wheelchair basketball World championships 1994 World Championships Women's wheelchair basketball 1998 World Championships Women's wheelchair basketball 2002 World Championships Women's wheelchair basketball 2010 World Championships Women's wheelchair basketball 2014 World Championships Women's wheelchair basketball Parapan American Games 2011 Parapan American Games Women's wheelchair basketball 2015 Parapan American Games Women's wheelchair basketball Various competitions 1991 Stoke Mandeville Games Women's wheelchair basketball 2005 Qualifications of Americas Tournament Women's wheelchair basketball 2013 Osaka Cup Women's wheelchair basketball

Tracey Ferguson is a Canadian Paralympic wheelchair basketball player. She has won several gold medals including at three different Paralympic Games.

Early life

Tracey Ferguson was born on September 7, 1974 in Holland Landing, Ontario. She was the last of six children and her initial ambition was to be a swimmer.^[1] She was left paralysed after an operation on her spine at the age of nine, but four years later she was being introduced to wheelchair basketball.^[2] Her mother was unsure about this sport as she thought her five foot tall daughter was too small to compete.^[1]

Career

In 1991, Ferguson got into a third place at Stoke Mandeville Games which were hosted in Buckinghamshire, England and in 1992 got into the first place at the Paralympic Games in Barcelona. From 1994 she got into a first place not once, but four times in four years.^[2] First, she got a first place at the World championships at both Stoke Mandeville in 1994 supporting the captain Linda Kutrowski and that year's star Chantal Benoit.^[3] Her second World Championship was at Sydney in 1998. In 1998 and 2000 she got first place again at the 1996 Paralympic Games and the 2000 as well. In the same years she was honoured to be chosen as a member of a world team.^[2] In 2004, Tracey got a third place at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens and a year later she was awarded a silver medal at the Qualifications of Americas Tournament in Colorado Springs. Five years later she got a bronze medal at the World Championships in Manchester and a year later she won a silver medal at the 2011 Parapan American Games. She also won a bronze medal in 2013 at the Osaka Cup which was held at Osaka.^[2] She was part of the team that won a gold medal at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto in July 2014,^[4] and silver at the 2015 Parapan American Games in August 2015.^[5]

Awards and honours

In 2012, Ferguson was inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.^[6] In 2013, she was awarded with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal which was given to her by Minister of State Bal Gosal.^[7] She was also awarded with YMCA's Young Women of Distinction Award and the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award.^[8]

References