| Country (sports) |  United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1959-05-24)May 24, 1959 Austin, Texas, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | November 19, 2009(2009-11-19) (aged 50) El Salvador | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Retired | 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plays | Right Handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Int. Tennis HoF | 2012(member page) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 140–36 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No.2 (March 23, 1993) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Masters | W (1994) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paralympic Games |  Gold Medal (1992) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doubles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career record | 70–26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highest ranking | No.1 (July 18, 1995) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paralympic Games | Gold Medal (1992) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World Team Cup |  Champion (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Randy Snow (May 24, 1959 – November 19, 2009) was the firstParalympian to be inducted into theU.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the first paralympian to win medals in three different sports: track, basketball and tennis.[1]
Thomas Randall Snow was the oldest of four children of Alison Lee McElhone, a kindergarten teacher, and Thomas Snow, a real estate attorney. He was born in Austin, Texas and later his family moved toTerrell, Texas. In 1975, at the age of 16, his spine was crushed by a 1000-pound bale ofhay, leaving himparalyzed from the waist down.[1] After graduating, he enrolled in theUniversity of Texas at Austin in 1977, where he indulged in thefraternity party life, until forming awheelchair basketball team under the direction of Jim Hayes, theUniversity of Texas at Arlington wheelchair sports director. Soon afterward, he began wheelchair racing, and in 1980 transferred toArlington in order to work with Hayes, eventually establishing himself as the bestwheelchair tennis player in the United States.
In 1984, theSummer Olympics added a men's 1500-meter wheelchair race as anexhibition event. Snow went into heavy training, relocating toHouston, Texas, to train on the same track asCarl Lewis. This was the first Paralympic event to appear before a large audience, and the public was unsure of their feelings for wheelchair-using athletes. Snow received a silver medal, and the crowd gave the athletes astanding ovation at the end of the exhibition.
In the 1990–91 season, Snow won 68 consecutive matches and 15 straight tournaments, becoming the first International Tennis Federation Wheelchair World Champion.[1] Snow went on to win gold medals in the1992 Summer Paralympics inBarcelona for singles and doubles tennis, and at the1996 Atlanta Games was a member of the bronze medal-winning wheelchair basketball team. He also competed in men's wheelchair tennis singles at the2000 Summer Paralympics but lost in the third round to eventual gold medalistDavid Hall ofAustralia.
He was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame on July 1, 2004.[1]
Randy Snow died in El Salvador on November 19, 2009, while volunteering at a wheelchair tennis camp.[2] He was posthumously inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame inNewport, Rhode Island, on July 14, 2012.[3][4]
| Preceded by First Winner | ITF Wheelchair Tennis World Champion 1991 | Succeeded by |
Articles and topics related to Randy Snow | |||||
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