View source for Randy Snow

{{short description|American wheelchair tennis and basketball player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox wheelchair tennis player
| name                              = Randy Snow
| image                             = <!-- formatted like this: [[File:Imagename.jpg|250px]]; change 250 to change image size -->
| caption                           = <!-- brief text caption for the image -->
| fullname                          = 
| nickname                          = 
| country                           = {{USA}}
| residence                         = 
| birth_date                        = {{birth date|1959|05|24}}
| birth_place                       = [[Austin, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date                        = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|2009|11|19|1959|05|24}}}}
| death_place                       = El Salvador
| turnedpro                         = 
| retired                           = 2004
| plays                             = Right Handed
| careerprizemoney                  = 
| tennishofyear                     = 2012
| tennishofid                       = thomas-randy-snow
| website                           = <!-- official web site address like this: [http://www.site.com/ www.site.com] -->
| singlesrecord                     = 140–36
| singlestitles                     = 
| highestsinglesranking             = No.2 (March 23, 1993)
| currentsinglesranking             = 
| AustralianOpenresult              = 
| FrenchOpenresult                  = 
| USOpenresult                      = 
| Othertournaments                  = <!-- adds a "Other tournaments" title -->
| WheelchairTennisMastersresult     = '''W''' (1994)
| Paralympicsresult                 = [[File:Gold medal Paralympics 1988-94.svg|20px]] '''Gold Medal''' (1992)
| doublesrecord                     = 70–26
| doublestitles                     = 
| highestdoublesranking             = No.1 (July 18, 1995)
| currentdoublesranking             = 
| grandslamsdoublesresults          = 
| AustralianOpenDoublesresult       = 
| FrenchOpenDoublesresult           = 
| WimbledonDoublesresult            = 
| USOpenDoublesresult               = 
| OthertournamentsDoubles           = <!-- adds a "Other doubles tournaments" title -->
| WheelchairTennisMastersDoublesresult   = 
| ParalympicsDoublesresult          = [[File:Gold medal Paralympics 1988-94.svg|20px]] '''Gold Medal''' (1992)
| WheelchairWorldTeamCupresult      = [[File:Gold medal world centered-2.svg|20px]] '''Champion''' (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1995)
| updated                           = <!-- adds date this template was last updated at an individual article -->
| medals-expand                     = yes
| medals                            =
{{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Paralympic Games]] }}
{{MedalSport | Men's athletics }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1984 Summer Paralympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | 400m 4}}
{{MedalSilver | [[1984 Summer Paralympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | 800m 4}}
{{MedalBronze | [[1984 Summer Paralympics|1984 Los Angeles]] | 1500m 4}}
{{MedalSport | Men's [[wheelchair tennis]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1992 Summer Paralympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Wheelchair tennis at the 1992 Summer Paralympics – Men's singles|Singles]] }}
{{MedalGold | [[1992 Summer Paralympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Wheelchair tennis at the 1992 Summer Paralympics – Men's doubles|Doubles]] }}
{{MedalSport | Men's [[wheelchair basketball]] }}
{{MedalBronze | [[1996 Summer Paralympics|1996 Atlanta]] | [[Wheelchair basketball at the 1996 Summer Paralympics – Men|Team]] }}
}}

'''Randy Snow''' (May 24, 1959 – November 19, 2009) was the first [[Paralympic Games|Paralympian]] to be inducted into the [[U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame]] and the first paralympian to win medals in three different sports: track, basketball and tennis.<ref name="shmerler">Cindy Shmerler, [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/27/obituaries/randy-snow-overlooked.html "Overlooked No More: Randy Snow, Paralympic Champion of Wheelchair Tennis,"] ''The New York Times'', August 27, 2021.</ref>

==Biography==
Thomas Randall Snow was the oldest of four children of Alison Lee McElhone, a kindergarten teacher, and Thomas Snow, a real estate attorney. He was born in Austin, Texas and later his family moved to [[Terrell, Texas]]. In 1975, at the age of 16, his spine was crushed by a 1000-pound bale of [[hay]], leaving him [[paraplegic|paralyzed from the waist down]].<ref name="shmerler"/> After graduating, he enrolled in the [[University of Texas at Austin]] in 1977, where he indulged in the [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity]] party life, until forming a [[wheelchair basketball]] team under the direction of Jim Hayes, the [[University of Texas at Arlington]] wheelchair sports director. Soon afterward, he began wheelchair racing, and in 1980 transferred to [[Arlington, Texas|Arlington]] in order to work with Hayes, eventually establishing himself as the best [[wheelchair tennis]] player in the United States.

In 1984, the [[1984 Summer Olympics|Summer Olympics]] added a men's 1500-meter wheelchair race as an [[Exhibition game|exhibition]] event. Snow went into heavy training, relocating to [[Houston, Texas]], to train on the same track as [[Carl Lewis]]. This was the first Paralympic event to appear before a large audience, and the public was unsure of their feelings for wheelchair-using athletes. Snow received a silver medal, and the crowd gave the athletes a [[standing ovation]] at the end of the exhibition.

In the 1990–91 season, Snow won 68 consecutive matches and 15 straight tournaments, becoming the first International Tennis Federation Wheelchair World Champion.<ref name="shmerler"/> Snow went on to win gold medals in the [[1992 Summer Paralympics]] in [[Barcelona]] for singles and doubles tennis, and at the [[1996 Summer Paralympics|1996 Atlanta Games]] was a member of the bronze medal-winning wheelchair basketball team. He also competed in men's wheelchair tennis singles at the [[2000 Summer Paralympics]] but lost in the third round to eventual gold medalist [[David Hall (Australian tennis)|David Hall]] of [[Australia]].

He was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame on July 1, 2004.<ref name="shmerler"/>

Randy Snow died in El Salvador on November 19, 2009, while volunteering at a wheelchair tennis camp.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20091126-Thomas-Randall-Randy-Snow-6770.ece |title=Thomas Randall 'Randy' Snow: Wheelchair athlete was the pioneer for Paralympics |access-date=2020-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160603162335/http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20091126-Thomas-Randall-Randy-Snow-6770.ece |archive-date=2016-06-03 |url-status=live}}</ref> He was posthumously inducted into the [[International Tennis Hall of Fame]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]], on July 14, 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/8166358/jennifer-capriati-headlines-2012-tennis-hall-fame-class |title=Jennifer Capriati inducted into Hall |date=July 14, 2012 |access-date=2020-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120830155933/http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/8166358/jennifer-capriati-headlines-2012-tennis-hall-fame-class |archive-date=2012-08-30 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.itftennis.com/wheelchair/news/articles/randy-snow-inducted-to-tennis-hall-of-fame.aspx |title=ITF Tennis - WHEELCHAIR - Articles - Randy Snow inducted to Tennis Hall of Fame |access-date=2020-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923163215/https://www.itftennis.com/wheelchair/news/articles/randy-snow-inducted-to-tennis-hall-of-fame.aspx |archive-date=2018-09-23 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official website|http://www.randysnow.com/}}
* {{Tennis Hall of Fame|randy-snow}}
* {{ITF profile|randy-snow/800182488/usa}}
* {{IPC athlete|randy-snow}}
* {{Team USA Hall of Fame|new_id=randy-snow|old_id=Randy-Snow}}

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box
| title  = [[ITF World Champions|ITF Wheelchair Tennis World Champion]]
| before =First Winner
| after  = [[Laurent Giammartini]]
| years  = 1991
}}
{{end}}

{{Navboxes
|title=Articles and topics related to  Randy Snow
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|list1=
{{Wheelchair Tennis Masters Men's Singles}}
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{{Footer Paralympic Champions Wheelchair tennis Men's Doubles}}
{{International Tennis Hall of Fame members}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Snow, Randy}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:American men's wheelchair basketball players]]
[[Category:Paralympic wheelchair tennis players for the United States]]
[[Category:Wheelchair tennis players at the 1992 Summer Paralympics]]
[[Category:Wheelchair tennis players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics]]
[[Category:Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for the United States]]
[[Category:Wheelchair basketball players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics]]
[[Category:Paralympic gold medalists for the United States]]
[[Category:Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States]]
[[Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Paralympic Order]]
[[Category:Wheelchair racers at the 1984 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics]]
[[Category:American men wheelchair racers]]
[[Category:People from Terrell, Texas]]
[[Category:People with paraplegia]]
[[Category:Paralympic medalists in wheelchair tennis]]
[[Category:Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball]]
[[Category:ITF wheelchair tennis world champions]]
[[Category:American wheelchair tennis players]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Texas]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]