Paralympics biography of donald

Australian Paralympic athlete

Donald James William Elgin (born 19 December 1975) is an Australian Paralympic amputeetrack and field athlete who won four medals at three Paralympics.

Personal

Elgin was born on 19 December 1975 in the Victorian town of Donald. He was born without a left leg and a left thumb, with small toes, and webbed fingers on both hands; his malformed left foot was amputated shortly after he was born and he had open heart surgery at the age of three. He was raised in the New South Wales town of Tocumwal, and competed in athletics and swimming as a teenager. He lives in Melbourne with his wife, three daughters and a son. He is the Founder and managing director of StarAmp Global, a boutique management company that specialises in managing and supporting paralympic competitors. He also works as a motivational speaker both in Australia and around the world.

Sports career

Elgin first participated in sports for people with disabilities at the 1990 New South Wales Amputee Championships. His first in

Personal

Career Highlights

• 2012: – Olympic Games
• 2012: FIVB World League (Silver Medal)
• 2012: NORCECA Men's Continental Olympic Qualification Tournament (gold medal).
• 2012: – Named USA Volleyball Men's Indoor Most Improved Player
• 2012: Was the team’s starting setter in 2012, playing in 92 out of 115 sets. Finished season with 46 points on 18 kills, 24 blocks and four aces. Also had 128 digs (1.39 per set). Was credited with 705 running sets (7.67 per set)
• 2012: Started 20 out of 21 sets at the Olympic Games, finishing with 10 points on three kills, six blocks and one ace. Match high was three points against Brazil on two kills and one block. Finished second among Olympic setters with 213 running sets (10.65 per set). Credited with 31 digs (1.55 per set)
• 2012: Played in 57 out of 60 World League sets, scoring 29 points on 14 kills and 15 blocks, including highs of five points against France in France (4 kills, 1 block) and against France in Dallas (1 kill, 4 blocks). Finished first among all setters in pool play with 331 running sets (5.81 per set). Finished second among all setters in the World League Final Round with 74 running sets (5.29 per set)
• 2012: Started 15 out of 16 sets at the NORCECA Olympic Qualifier. Finished with seven points on one kills, three blocks and three aces. Credited with 87 running sets (5.44 per set). Finished

South African wheelchair tennis player

Donald Ramphadi (born 10 June 1993), nicknamed Dona, is a South African wheelchair tennis player who plays in the sport's quad division. Ramphadi, alongside partner Andy Lapthorne, is the 2023 French Open quad wheelchair doubles champion. Ramphadi has also been the runner-up in numerous quad wheelchair doubles grand slam events, with frequent partners including Lapthorne, Lucas Sithole, and Koji Sugeno. Ramphadi and Sithole won bronze in the quad doubles wheelchair tennis event at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which was the African continent's first-ever wheelchair tennis medal.

Tennis career

Ramphadi first started playing tennis in 2009 while studying at Letaba Special School in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province, and originally thought tennis was "a white people sport" but ended up falling in love with the game. He was cleared to compete in the quad division of wheelchair tennis in 2018.

Ramphadi has participated in several Grand Slams' quad wheelchair divisions in both singles and doubles. Ramphadi and his partner Andy Lapthorne claimed the 2023 French Open quad wheelchair doubles title at Roland-Garros, winning the final match on Ramphadi's birthday while he played in a secondhand wheelchair.

Ramphadi and partner Lucas Sithole made it to the semifinals of the 2024 Paralympics' quad doubles wheelchair tennis event, losing to 2020 gold medalists Sam Schröder and Niels Vink. Ramphadi and Sithole then defeated the Brazilian pair of Ymanitu Silva (one of Ramphadi's previous partners) and Leandro Pena to win the event's bronze medal, which was South Africa's fourth medal of the 2024 Games and the first-ever wheelchair tennis medal won by an African country.

Ramphadi has noted his desire to encourage more young Black South Africans to pick up tennis, saying, "N