Billy Bridges (born 22 March 1984) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

ice sledge hockey and

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

player. Born in Summerside, he has

spina bifida Spina bifida (SB; ; Latin for 'split spine') is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the vertebral column, spine and the meninges, membranes around the spinal cord during embryonic development, early development in pregnancy. T ...

. On July 1, 2011, Bridges married former Olympic women's ice hockey player Sami Jo Small. He competed at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), also known as XIII Paralympic Winter Games, commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), were an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China, from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter ...

, in

Para ice hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an Parasports, adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a ...

winning a silver medal.

Life

He began playing ice sledge hockey in 1997, aged 12, for the Kitchener Sidewinders. Aged 14, he was selected for Canada's national team, the youngest player ever to be picked. He has World Championship golds from 2000, 2008, 2013 and 2017 and Paralympic gold from 2006, where he was picked for the All-Star Team. As well as ice sledge hockey, he has a career as a wheelchair basketball player, including seven Canadian titles with Team Ontario. In 2001, he also competed at the Junior World Championships, and in 2005 was selected as the team's most valuable player (MVP). He completed at the 2019 World Para Ice Hockey Championships, and 2021 World Para Ice Hockey Championships, winning silver medals.

Honours

2010 Winter Paralympics The 2010 Winter Paralympics (), or the tenth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, from March 12 to 21, 2010. The opening ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing ...

** 4th place in ice sledge hockey * 2009 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships ** Bronze * 2008 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships ** Gold *

2006 Winter Paralympics The 2006 Winter Paralympic Games (), the ninth Paralympic Winter Games, took place in Turin, Italy, from 10 to 19 March 2006. These were the first Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Italy. They were also the first Paralympics to use the n ...

** Gold in ice sledge hockey *

2004 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships The 2004 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships was the third IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships held between April 13, 2004 and April 24, 2004 at Kempehallen in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. Örnsköldsvik was also the host of the first Pa ...

** 4th place *

2002 Winter Paralympics The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from 7 to 16 March 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Ameri ...

** 4th place * 2000 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships ** Gold (2-1 against Norway)

Career stats

Hockey Canada

References

External links