Sharon Hedrick

Background

She was born in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Education

University of Illinois system.

Career

At the age of 9, Sharon Hedrick was accidentally shot by a 12-year-old boy playing with a loaded gun. This left her paralyzed from the waist down. Sharon Hedrick did not get involved in wheelchair sports until she was 19 when she was seen training her dog at a local fair and encouraged to join Temple University"s athletic team

She went on to play for the wheelchair basketball team at the University of Illinois, winning six Most Valuable Player awards.

In 1980 Hedrick competed in the Paralympic Games for the first time as a wheelchair basketballer. The team gained the bronze medal.

She finished with a time of 2:15.73. 1990 saw the first Women"s World Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Saint Etienne, France.

Hedrick claimed gold as part of the winning United States of America team

Achievements

• In 1977 Hedrick won the Top Female Athlete Award at the National Wheelchair Games. In 1985 she was presented with the Southland Olympia Award, which recognises excellence in sport and the embodiment of the "amateur ideal". Hedrick was the first wheelchair athlete to be presented this award. Hedrick was awarded the Jack Gerhardt Outstanding Wheelchair Athlete Award in 1988. Also in 1988 Hedrick was the recipient of the Athlete of the Year Award from USOC. In 1989 the Women"s Sports Foundation nominated Hedrick in their list of the Top 10 Women Athletes in America. In 1991 Hedrick"s alma mater, Hatboro-Horsham High School, inducted her into their Athletics Hall of Fame In 1992 Hedrick was inducted into the WASUSA Hall Of Fame. In 1994 Hedrick became the first woman to be inducted in to the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame. 2012 saw Hedrick becoming a member of Barack Obama"s Presidential Delegation to the London Paralympic Games alongside fellow wheelchair athlete Jean Driscoll.

Views

She successfully defended this title at the following games in South of Korea.

Membership

2012 saw Hedrick becoming a member of Barack Obama"s Presidential Delegation to the London Paralympic Games alongside fellow wheelchair athlete Jean Driscoll.