Basketball bronze for Paralympic Utahn

International Paralympic Committee flag. Photo: Scazon

TOKYO, Japan. — Ali Ibanez of Salt Lake City and her United States teammates won the bronze medal in Tokyo against Germany in Women’s Wheelchair Basketball 64 – 51. The gold went to Nederlands for their first time and silver to China for their first medal in the event. 

Team USA had hoped to repeat their gold-medal performance from five years ago in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games but to no avail. The last year of pandemic practices and play kept these athletes, some of whom compete professionally in European leagues, from typical robust international tournament schedules. Much has been made about how individual athletes in individual sports got creative to keep in elite-athlete shape during the year-long Paralympic postponement, that said, team sports athletes like Ibanez rarely had the opportunity to gather in groups to train together. Nonetheless, this squad found the court chemistry they needed to bring the bronze home.

Ibanez, 21, with the most visible tattoos on the team, subbed in and out of the game multiple times in the second half which started at 31 – 25 USA. At the end of the third quarter, USA was up 44 – 39 and from there, their lead continued to grow. With 3:45 remaining in the fourth, Ibanez, scored a 2 pointer bringing Team USA 9 points ahead of the team representing Germany. At two minutes to go in the fourth that lead had grown to 12, the widest of the whole game. 

Ibanez is one of  9 rookies on the team in Tokyo.

After the game, Team USA captain, Natalie Schneider said to NBC regarding the young athletes like Ibanez’s contributions to the game, “It would have been easy for the girls to come out scared but instead we all just came out and had fun and I’m really proud of them.”

This win handed the United States Women’s Wheelchair Basketball program its fourth all-time bronze medal. In Tokyo 2020, on the court after the game, since COVID protocols didn’t allow any spectators in the stadium, the ladies cheered for themselves, circling up, arms around each other and chanting vociferously, “USA, USA, USA, USA.”