SANZ Nelson

Wheelchair Basketball

Date of Birth: 26 Mar 1974

Age: 47

Gender: Male

Sport Class: 4.5

Place of birth: QUIMBAYA

Birth Country:

Colombia

Place of residence : BOGOTA

Residence Country:

Colombia

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Wheelchair Basketball	Men COL Colombia	11

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Musashino Forest Sport Plaza	Men's Preliminary Round Group A #14 COL Colombia 56 JPN Japan 63	Finished
	Ariake Arena	Men's Preliminary Round Group A #22 ESP Spain 74 COL Colombia 56	Finished
	Musashino Forest Sport Plaza	Men's Preliminary Round Group A #34 KOR Republic of Korea 66 COL Colombia 54	Finished
	Musashino Forest Sport Plaza	Men's Preliminary Round Group A #37 COL Colombia 38 TUR Turkey 80	Finished
	Ariake Arena	Men's Preliminary Round Group A #46 COL Colombia 52 CAN Canada 63	Finished
	Ariake Arena	Men's Classification Playoff 11/12 #56 COL Colombia 70 ALG Algeria 47	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Rank	Event	Year	Location
Paralympic Games
11	Men	2012	London, GBR

Neja (Facebook profile, 15 Aug 2021)

Occupation:

Physical Education, Sport Studies - University Institution National School of Sports, Colombia

Wife Paola, two children

Languages spoken:

Italian, Spanish

Disfad de Cali [Colombia] since 2021

Ana Cardoso [national], BRA

Other sports:

He represented Colombia in able-bodied basketball. He also played the sport at club level in Colombia, and was part of the Piratas de Bogota team that won the 2004 Baloncesto Profesional Colombiano [Colombian national basketball league]. (radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019; orangeball.co, 28 Mar 2020)

He played professional basketball in Colombia for 10 years, until degenerative osteoarthritis in both knees forced him to quit the able-bodied game in 2006. He took up wheelchair basketball in 2007. (radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019; noticias.canal1.com.co, 21 Apr 2011)

He was inspired to take up wheelchair basketball by friend and fellow Colombian wheelchair basketball player Rodney Terry Hawkins. "[In 2007] it was difficult for me to keep running. At the time I was accompanying Rodney Hawkins, a basketball player from Providencia [Colombia] whose left leg was amputated. I was with him, I saw the process he had as a basketball player in a wheelchair, and that motivated me to continue in this sport. At the beginning it was difficult for me to handle the chair, but with many hours of practice I managed to do it. Moreover, I already had the handling and shooting skills." (radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019; noticias.canal1.com.co, 21 Apr 2011)

To compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (bolavip.com, 11 Aug 2021)

Captaining the Colombian wheelchair basketball team at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. (radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019)

General Interest

Classification
4.5 (IWBF, 16 Aug 2021)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (noticias.canal1.com.co, 21 Apr 2011; radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019)

Impairment Details
He has degenerative osteoarthritis in both knees. (noticias.canal1.com.co, 21 Apr 2011; radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019)

General
OLYMPIC TATTOO
He has a tattoo on his right arm that depicts himself shooting a basketball into one of the Olympic rings. (radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019)

OTHER ROLES
He has served as managing director of Colombian basketball team Cimarrones Caribbean Storm and as player-coach at Italian wheelchair basketball team Anmic Dinamo Sassari. He was part of the coaching staff for the Colombian national wheelchair basketball team at the 2014 Para South American Games in Santiago, Chile, and served as a coaching professional at the Colombian Ministry of Sport between 2012 and 2018. (Facebook profile, 15 Aug 2021; radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019)

CLUB JOURNEY
He has played club wheelchair basketball in Brazil, Italy, Greece and Colombia. (radionacional.co, 09 Dec 2019)

Social Media

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos