Birth name Daniel Wesley Role Olympic athlete Name Daniel Wesley | Country Canada Nationality Canadian | |
Born March 29, 1960 (age 63) ( 1960-03-29 ) Canada Sport Alpine skiing, wheelchair racing, track and field Event(s) Downhill
Slalom
Giant slalom
Super combined
Super G
100 meter
500 meter
800 meter | ||
Daniel Wesley (aka Daniel Westley) is a Canadian athlete who won 12 medals while competing in the Paralympic Games.
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Early life
Wesley grew up in New Westminster, British Columbia and lost both his legs in 1973 when he fell under a moving train.
Career
While recovering from his accident, Wesley met Rick Hansen who inspired him to try wheelchair athletics. He began wheelchair racing in 1978 and track and field competitions in 1979 and earned a place on the team for the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea. He competed in both the winter and summer games in several sports including "wheelchair racing and skiing" and won two gold and two silver medals.
After finishing fourth in the 1991 London Marathon men's wheelchair race, Wesley won the 1992 race and set a new course record. He competed in the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona and again at the 1994 Winter Paralympics in Lilehammer and at the 1998 Winter Paralympics in Nagano. At the 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City, Utah he won gold and silver medals. In 2003 he received a 3rd place overall ranking in the World Cup. As of 2012, Wesley had won 12 Paralympic medals, four of them gold, while competing in wheelchair sports such as racing and skiing at "five Paralympic Games."
Wesley works as a sales person for a "home medical equipment company."
Personal
Wesley lives in New Westminster, Canada. He began skiing at age 25 and is a practitionar of Transcendental Meditation.