Jeffrey Adams (born November 15, 1970, in Mississauga, Ontario) is a Canadian lawyer, and a former Paralympian, a six-time world champion in wheelchair sports.
 Adams in 2021 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Jeffrey Adams |
| Born | November 15, 1970 (age 53) Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
Medal record | |
Competitive racing edit
Adams competed at six consecutive Summer Paralympics from 1988 to 2008, winning a total of three gold, four silver, and six bronze medals. At the 1988 Summer Paralympics he won two bronze medals, one in the 800m race and one in the 1500m race. Four years later at the Barcelona Games he won two silvers, one in the 800m race and one as part of the 4 × 400 m relay. At the 1996 Summer Paralympics he won gold in the 800 m, silver in the 400 m, and bronze in the 4×400 m relay. Four years later, at the Sydney games, he won five medals, a gold in the 800 m and 1500 m, a silver in the 400 m and a bronze in the 5000 m and 4x100 m. At the 2004 Paralympics he won a bronze in the 400 m race. Adams was coached by Peter Eriksson.
Post-competition edit
In 2002, Adams ascended the 1,776 steps of the CN Tower in a specially-designed wheelchair; in 2004, he climbed the Acropolis.
In March 2010, he was a torchbearer during the 2010 Winter Paralympics torch relay.[1]
In 2012 Adams was part of the broadcast crew on Channel 4's coverage of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.[2][3]
Adams is additionally a motivational speaker.[4]
He is an inductee into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame (1997, then the Terry Fox Hall of Fame).[5] In 2018, he was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (2018).[6]
Personal life edit
Adams underwent radiation therapy for cancer as a child, and aftermath of the treatment led to a spinal injury at age 9 that paralysed him.[7][8] After retiring from competition, Adams and business partner Christian Bagg co-launched Marvel Wheelchairs with Cervélo Cycles, producing adjustable wheelchairs for everyday use.[8] After Cervélo was unable to secure bridge financing for debt to suppliers, Marvel was taken over and unsuccessful attempts were made to sell it by Cervélo. Cervélo was taken over by PON,[9] and Adams and Bagg launched a new company making wheelchairs called ICON in 2010.[8] An appearance on the CBC reality show Dragons' Den led to a new partnership with a manufacturer, Multimatic, to produce the wheelchairs designed by ICON.[10][11]
Through much of his career, Adams lived in Brampton, Ontario.[12]
References edit
- ^ "March 5 - Toronto" Archived 2010-03-08 at the Wayback Machine, Vancouver 2010 official website (viewed on March 2)
- ^ Pitt-Brooke, Jack (3 September 2012). "Jack Pitt-Brooke: Instructive and inspirational – Channel 4 strike the Paralympic balance". The Independent. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ^ "LONDON 2012: Paralympic Games – Meet the C4 team". Sport On The Box. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
- ^ "Jeff Adams | Paralympian | World Champion". www.speakers.ca. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ "Jeff Adams". Ontario Heritage Trust. Ontario Heritage Trust. 27 February 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
- ^ Harrison, Doug (26 April 2018). "Leafs legend Dave Keon, Olympic great Alex Despatie headline Canada's Sports Hall of Fame newcomers | CBC Sports". CBC. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Jeff Adams". Management. ICON Wheelchairs. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ a b c Mourtada, Rasha (12 January 2012). "Canadian upstart reinvents its wheels". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ "Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings purchases Canadian bike company Cervelo Cycles | Globalnews.ca".
- ^ Howell, Trevor Scott. "Christian Bagg, Co-founder of Icon Wheelchairs". Your Face Here. Fast Forward Weekly. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ "New wheelchair called revolutionary". CBC.ca. 28 Feb 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
- ^ Keith Bolender, "Jeff Adams makes most of sport to defeat his physical disability", Toronto Star, 2 May 1989, W14.
External links edit
- Jeff Adams at the International Paralympic Committee
- Jeff Adams at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)
- Jeffrey Adams at World Athletics at the Wayback Machine (archived 2019-04-23)
- Jeff Adams pitches on Dragons' Den
- Speaker's Spotlight
- National Speakers Bureau
- "After dominating the track, Jeff Adams keeps pushing boundaries of excellence" episode of Beyond the Win, CBC Sports, May 18, 2021.