Emily Ann Oberst (born August 27, 1998) is an American

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 and a member of the

United States women's national wheelchair basketball team The United States women's national wheelchair basketball team began in the mid-1960s. The first women's team to compete alongside men in the Paralympic Games was in the inaugural 1968 tournament. A few years later in 1977, a women's wheelchair bas ...

. She represented the United States at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

Early life and education

Oberst was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma in her left leg at age 12 that forced her to have a surgery to replace her fibula as her tibia. Prior to her cancer diagnosis, she played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and ran track. After almost two years of surgeries, chemotherapy and rehabilitation she was cancer free and able to use her legs. However, due to extensive bone surgery, she would not be able to run or play sports as she used to. She transitioned to play

throughout high school for the varsity Junior Bucks team. She was recruited to play basketball for the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

at age 17. She then transferred to the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

, where she finished her career as a college athlete.

Career

Oberst made her international debut for the United States at the

2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship The 2018 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held at the Edel-optics.de Arena in Hamburg, Germany, from 16 to 26 August 2018. Both men's and women's tournaments were held, with 12 women's and 16 men's teams competing, representing 19 di ...

and finished in sixth place in the tournament. In May 2019, she represented the U25 Women's team at the 2019 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship and won a gold medal. She represented the United States at the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships and won a bronze medal. In November 2023 she competed at the

2023 Parapan American Games The 2023 Parapan American Games, officially the VII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Santiago 2023 Parapan-Am Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities. It celebrated the tradition of the Parapan Am ...

in the wheelchair basketball tournament and won a gold medal. As a result, the team earned an automatic bid to the

. On March 30, 2024, she was named to Team USA's roster to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

References

External links

* 1998 births Living people American women's wheelchair basketball players Basketball players from Wisconsin Sportspeople from Brookfield, Wisconsin Wheelchair basketball players at the 2023 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Parapan American Games Wheelchair basketball players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball 21st-century American sportswomen Parapan American Games medalists in wheelchair basketball Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States {{US-basketball-bio-stub