Chris Bond (wheelchair rugby)

Christopher Adam Bond, OAM (born 28 May 1986) is an Australian wheelchair rugby player. He has won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics.[1]

Chris Bond

2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Bond
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Adam Bond
Nationality	Australia
Born	28 May 1986
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Wheelchair rugby 3.5
Medal record Wheelchair rugby Paralympic Games 2012 London Mixed 2016 Rio Mixed World Championships 2014 Odense Mixed 2018 Sydney Mixed

Personal

Bond and his identical twin brother were born on 28 May 1986,[2][3][4] and grew up in the Australian Capital Territory.[3][5] He is missing both legs below his knees, his left wrist and his right four fingers as a result of a severe infection from a flesh eating bacterium he got while also being diagnosed with leukemia when he was nineteen years old.[2][3] During his rehab, he was often one of the youngest people in gym.[2] While he adjusted to life without his limbs, he started swimming at the pool at the Australian Institute of Sport.[2][3] When he was young, he played rugby league and was a fan of the Canberra Raiders. Following his illness, he became friends with Clinton Schifcofske, the Raiders former captain.[3] From 2008 to August 2011, he served as a board member of an organisation for young people trying to deal with their own cancer called CanTeen. During his time on the board, he also served as the organisation's national vice president.[3][6] In 2012, he lived in Queensland.[5]

Wheelchair rugby

Bond is a 3.5 point wheelchair rugby player.[3] In 2010, he began looking for a team sport to play and contacted Brad Dubberley, the head coach of the Australia national wheelchair rugby team who encouraged Bond to try the sport based on his existing love of rugby.[3]

Bond made his national team debut at the 2011 Great Britain Cup.[3] Wearing jersey number 10,[5] he represented Australia at the 2012 Canada Cup International Wheelchair Rugby Tournament. In the game against Canada, he and teammate Ryley Batt proved difficult for the Canadians to contain.[7] In May 2012, he participated in a test series against Japan national wheelchair rugby team in Sydney.[8] He scored eighteen goals in the fourth game which Australia won 47 – 44, and twenty goals in the fifth game where Australia won 61  – 55.[9] He played in the London Paralympic test event. He scored 14 points in the game against Canada national wheelchair rugby team that Australia won 56-52 and 20 points in the game against Sweden national wheelchair rugby team that Australia won 65-88.[10] In the finals match against Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team, he scored 22 points in Australia's 71-48 victory.[11] He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in wheelchair rugby.[3] Going into London, his team was ranked second in the world behind the United States.[12] He was part of the team that won the gold medal.[13] The Australian team went through the five-day tournament undefeated.[14]

Bond was a member of the Australian team that won its first world championship gold medal at the 2014 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships at Odense, Denmark.[15]

He was a member of the team that retained its gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics after defeating the United States 59–58 in the final.[16]

At the 2018 IWRF World Championship in Sydney, Australia, he was a member of the Australian team that won the silver medal after being defeated by Japan 61-62 in the gold medal game.[17]

In 2016, he plays for the Suncorp Queensland Cyclones in the Wheelchair Rugby National League.[18]

He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."[4] In November 2016, Bond with Ryan Scott was awarded the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association Senior Male Athlete of the Year.[19]

References

1. "Steelers aim to maintain their reign in Rio". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 25 July 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
2. "Chris Bond: Training to medal, not just to impress the girls". International Paralympic Committee. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
3. "Chris Bond". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
4. "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". The Daily Telegraph. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
5. "Australia". Coupe Canada Cup 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
6. "Beating cancer the hard way". Our World Today. 28 October 2011. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
7. "- Kelowna's Hickling key with Team Canada's wheelchair rugby team". Kelowna Capital News. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
8. Michelmore, Karen (4 May 2012). "Australia's Steelers smash and crash their way to London -". ABC Sydney — Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
9. "IWRF News". International Wheelchair Rugby Federation. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
10. "International Wheelchair Rugby Federation : IWRF News". International Wheelchair Rugby Federation. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
11. "Steelers defeat Great Britain on home soil". Sportingwheelies.org.au. Archived from the original on 29 April 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
12. "Hose realises London dream". Camperdown Chronicle. 8 May 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
13. "Mixed Wheelchair Rugby - Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
14. "Batt stars as Australia win gold". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
15. "Australia wins first ever IWRF World Championship". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
16. Lees, Chris (19 September 2016). "Steelers double up with Paralympics gold". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
17. "Results". IWRF Wheelchair Rugby World Championships website. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
18. "Suncorp Queensland Cyclones wheelchair rugby team". Sporting Wheelies and Disabled website. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
19. "2016 Annual Awards winners". Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association website. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2016.

External links

• Australian Paralympic Committee Profile