Paula Coghlan

Paula Coghlan (born 14 October 1965)[1] is an Australian wheelchair basketball player. Born in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill,[1] She is the youngest of three children.

Paula Coghlan
Coghlan aims her shot during competition at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics
Personal information
Nationality Australia
Born (1965-10-14) 14 October 1965
Box Hill, Victoria
Medal record
Women's wheelchair basketball
Representing  Australia
Paralympic Games
2000 Sydney Team
2004 Athens Team
Coghlan shoots the ball during a match at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics

She was part of the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team (Gliders) at four Paralympics: the 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, and 2004 Athens games.[1] She was a member of the Gliders team that won silver medals in 2000 and 2004.[2]

She competed as Paula Lohman at the 1992 Games and at the 1996 Games she competed as Paula Ewen.[2] She has two sons James and Jacob. She was the domestic partner of wheelchair basketballer Sandy Blythe for eight years until his suicide in 2005.[3] After his death, she took up a directorship for the Blythe-Sanderson Group.[4]

In 1987, Coghlan was a passenger in a car accident where the driver dozed off behind the wheel. The car was flipped onto its roof, and her foot got trapped outside the car. After an attempt to try and rebuild most of her leg through plastic surgery, Coghlan eventually made the decision to amputate below her knee.[4]

A wheelchair rugby player called John Kinnery, who was a quadriplegic, encouraged Coghlan to play wheelchair basketball even though she did not use a wheelchair. Coghlan did not want to participate in a sport that required her to get into a wheelchair. But after attending a wheelchair basketball game and jumping in to have a go, she fell in love with it. Coghlan said 'I just fell in love with it and never looked back. I never stopped playing from that... I was hooked'.[4] The competitive nature of the sport lured Coghlan into playing, as well as being on a level playing field again.[4]

At the time she started playing wheelchair basketball, no women's team existed in Victoria. Coghlan had begun playing with the men, with players such as Kevin Coombs and Sandy Blythe. Coghlan approached Wheelchair Sports Victoria to create a team for the Women's National League.[4]

To qualify for the 1992 Barcelona Games, the Australian team had to travel to Stoke Mandeville in England to qualify. The qualifying tournament required the team to beat France and Japan. The national team managed to win the tournament, and they qualified for the Games. At the Barcelona Games, the Gliders finished fourth.[4]

One particular sporting highlight for Coghlan was wearing the green and gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games because it was the first time Australia would be represented in women's wheelchair basketball.[4]

Coghlan left the Australian team after the 1992 Games to have her son, James. In 1995, the coach for the Gliders, Peter Corr, asked her to come back and play in the 1996 Games in Atlanta. At the Atlanta Games the Gliders placed fourth.[4] At the 1997 World Championships, the Gliders won a bronze medal.

The Sydney 2000 Games was a major turning point for paralympic sport. There was a stronger connection between the paralympic athletes and the able-bodied athletes, and Coghlan's public profile had increased. The Gliders had been undefeated and had reached the gold medal play off against Canada, but they were defeated.[4]

Coghlan was the Gliders team captain at the 2004 Games.[5] She was also given the female captain role for the whole Paralympic team.[4]

References
  1. "Australian Paralympic Media guide : 2000 Paralympic Games Sydney" (PDF). Australian Sport Publications Archive. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  2. "Search results for Australian Paralympians whose first name is "Paula"". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  3. Edmund, Sam (22 November 2005). "Tributes flow for trailblazer; Tragic death of Paralympian". Herald Sun. p. 9.
  4. "Paula Scott interviewed by Nikki Henningham in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral his... [nla.obj-219085389] - Digital Collection - National Library of Australia". nla.gov.au. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  5. Halloran, Jessica (17 September 2004). "Young balladeer strikes positive note". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
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