Love & Wheelchair Basketball
In honor of Pride Month, U.S. Paralympic couple Courtney Ryan and Josie Aslakson talked through how they got together.
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GOLD
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SILVER
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BRONZE
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Height
5'11"
Age
47
Hometown
Council Bluffs, IA
Education
Abraham Lincoln High School (Council Bluffs, Iowa) ‘97 Southwest Minnesota State University '02, Political Science
Classification: 3.5
Quick Facts
- Raised in a basketball family
- Son of John and Luellen Turek
- Married to Jaralon
- Has four siblings, Ulette Bonner, Rachell, John and Elisha
- Shoots basketball every day for an hour and lifts four times a week
- Continued the tradition of playing the sport at the highest level at Southwest Minnesota State University as the program’s most prolific scorer in history
- He, his brother John, and sister Elisha, all played collegiately across the United States and professionally in Europe
- Was first introduced to the sport through a wheelchair sports camp in Omaha, Nebraska
- Made his first national team in 2004 before his Paralympic Games debut in Athens later that year
Paralympic Experience
- 4-time Paralympian; 3-time Paralympic medalist (2 gold, 1 bronze)
- Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, gold (Team - Men)
- Paralympic Games Rio de Janeiro 2016, gold (Team - Men)
- Paralympic Games London 2012, bronze (Team - Men)
- Paralympic Games Athens 2004, 7th (Team - Men)
World Championship Experience
- Most recent: 2014 – silver (Team - Men)
- Years of participation: Team - Men 2014
- Medals: 1 (1 silver)
- Silver – 2014 (Team - Men)
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