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Sandy Blythe

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Sandy Blythe
Sandy Blythe in action during competition at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics
Personal information
Full nameRobert Alexander Blythe
NationalityAustralian
Born24 February 1962 (1962-02-24)
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Died18 November 2005(2005-11-18) (aged 43)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Medal record
Men's wheelchair basketball
Representing  Australia
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Team competition
Blythe signing autographs to a fan's item at the Welcome Home Parade after the 2000 Summer Paralympics
Blythe in a match against Great Britain at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games

Robert Alexander "Sandy" Blythe, OAM[1][2] (24 February 1962 – 18 November 2005) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. He became a paraplegic due to a car accident in 1981, and went on to participate in the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at four Paralympic Games, captaining the gold medal-winning team at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. He committed suicide in 2005 at the age of 43 after a long illness.

Biography

Blythe was born in Geelong on 24 February 1962.[3] He grew up in a farm outside the Victorian town of Derrinallum and was a champion Australian rules football player as a teenager. He played in the Teal Cup and was later part of the St Kilda Football Club country squad.[4] In 1981, he began studying at the Ballarat College of Advanced Education, but later that year, he was involved in a three-car collision that rendered him paraplegic.[4][5] In 1984 he obtained his physical education degree on schedule, despite his six-month rehabilitation at Austin Hospital.[5]

He was part of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 1988 Seoul, 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, and 2000 Sydney Paralympics.[6] He was the captain of the team when it won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games and was co-captain with Priya Cooper of the Australian Paralympic team at the 2000 Sydney Games.[7][8] He had an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship in 1998 for wheelchair basketball.[9]

Blythe was also a motivational speaker who formed and worked in several businesses that improved public awareness of people with disabilities.[4][5] In 2000, he released a memoir, Blythe Spirit.[10]

On 18 November 2005, Blythe committed suicide; he had had depression and chronic fatigue syndrome for several years.[4][11] He was survived by his partner of eight years, wheelchair basketballer Paula Coghlan.[12]

Recognition

Blythe received a Medal of the Order of Australia in 1997 for his 1996 gold medal.[1] In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal.[2] The Sandy Blythe Medal, awarded to the best player of the year in the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, is named in his honour.[13] In 2010, he was posthumously inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b "Blythe, Robert, OAM". It's an Honour. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Blythe, Robert Alexander: Australian Sports Medal". It's an Honour. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Australians at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics: Wheelchair Basketball". Australian Sports Commission. Archived from the original on 19 January 2000.
  4. ^ a b c d Petrie, Andrea (19 November 2005). "Disabled basketball champion dies at 43". The Age. p. 7. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  5. ^ a b c Campbell, Di (20 December 2005). "Sandy Blythe". University of Ballarat. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Sandy Blythe". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Sandy Blythe". Basketball Australia. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  8. ^ Grant, Freya (6 December 2000). "Blythe shares early lead – name a supercat". The Daily Telegraph. p. 18.
  9. ^ Nihil, G. (2006). Australian Institute of Sport : celebrating excellence. Focus Publishing. p. 104. ISBN 1-921156-16-3.
  10. ^ Blythe, Sandy (2000). Blythe Spirit. Sydney: Pan MacMillan. ISBN 9780732910273.
  11. ^ Petrie, Andrea (25 November 2005). "Farewell to a champion athlete for whom life had lost its crucial blithe spirit". The Age. p. 8. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  12. ^ Edmund, Sam (22 November 2005). "Tributes flow for trailblazer; Tragic death of Paralympian". Herald Sun. p. 9.
  13. ^ "Groenewegen named Sandy Blythe medalist". Basketball Australia. 25 May 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
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