Marni Abbott-Peter (born October 11, 1965) is a Canadian retired

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 current head coach of the Canadian senior women's wheelchair basketball team. As a member of

Team Canada Canadian National Team or Team Canada may refer to: Canada at multi-sport events * Canada at the Olympics ** Canadian Olympic Committee * Canada at the Paralympics ** Canadian Paralympic Committee * Canada at the Commonwealth Games * Canada at ...

, she won three gold medals and one bronze during the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

as well as four World Championship titles. She was inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame in 2015. She is married to fellow Paralympic athlete

Richard Peter Richard Peter (10 May 1895 – 3 October 1977) was a German press photographer and photojournalist. He is best known for his photographs of Dresden just after the end of the Second World War. Life Richard Peter was born and raised in Klein Je ...

Early life

Born in

Nelson, British Columbia Nelson is a city located in the Selkirk Mountains on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake in the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The city is known for its collection of restored heritage buildings that date ba ...

, Abbott-Peter grew up in the

Kootenays The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Koote ...

region of British Columbia, beside skier

Nancy Greene Raine Nancy Catherine Greene Raine (born May 11, 1943) is a former Canadian Senator for British Columbia and an Olympic alpine champion voted as Canada's Female Athlete of the 20th Century. She was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Greene Raine wo ...

who inspired her to begin skiing. Although Raine would later move away, both Abbott-Peter and her brother partook in skiing lessons.

Career

Abbott-Peter sustained a spinal cord injury as a teenager while she was downhill skiing. As she was recovering, Abbott-Peter met Paralympic athlete

Rick Hansen Richard Marvin Hansen (born August 26, 1957) is a Canadian track and field athlete (Paralympic Games and Olympic Games), activist, and philanthropist for people with disabilities. When Rick was 15, he was riding in the back of a pickup truck ...

who introduced her to wheelchair sports. She first began swimming at the Pan American Games, where she won five medals, but soon began playing

in 1988 and made the Canadian national team in 1992. From 1992 to 2004, Abbott-Peter won three gold medals at the

and three consecutive World Championship titles in wheelchair basketball with Team Canada. In 2003, Abbott-Peter was named Female Athlete of the Year by the BC Wheelchair Sports Association. After briefly retiring in 2004, where she served on the

BC Games Society The BC Games Society is a provincial crown corporation in British Columbia created in 1977. The organization is the governing body responsible for the BC Summer Games and BC Winter Games, and manages the Team BC program at the Canada Games. R ...

Board and coached, Abbott-Peter won a bronze medal with Team Canada at the 2010 World Championship. In 2007, Abbott-Peter was inducted into the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in the BC Place stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia' ...

. The following year, Abbott-Peter was inducted into the Wheelchair Basketball Canada Hall of Fame. In 2012, Abbott-Peter was selected to coach at the Women's' Wheelchair Basketball tournament at the 2012 London Games. The following year, she was inducted into the Okanagan Sports Hall of Fame. In 2014, Abbott-Peter helped coach the BC Breakers to the Canadian Women's Wheelchair Basketball Championships at the

2015 Canada Winter Games The 2015 Canada Winter Games, officially known as the XXV Canada Games, is a Canadian multi-sport event that was held from February 12 to March 1, 2015, in Prince George, British Columbia. Sports *Alpine skiing *Archery *Badminton *Biathlon *Cro ...

. In 2015, Abbott-Peter was inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame and later into the Basketball BC Hall of Fame. Outside of sports, Abbott-Peter was named into the

Canadian Disability Hall of Fame The Canadian Disability Hall of Fame (formerly the Terry Fox Hall of Fame), recognizes "outstanding Canadians who have made extraordinary contributions to enriching the quality of life for people with physical disabilities". It is run by the Canadi ...

in 2016. In 2023, Abbott-Peter was named the head coach of the Canadian senior women's wheelchair basketball team.

Personal life

Abbott-Peter became engaged to fellow Paralympic athlete

in 2005, and the two later married.

Paralympic Games results

References

External links