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Kevin Orr

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Not to be confused with Kevyn Orr.
Kevin Orr
Personal information
Nationality United States
Born (1968-06-29) June 29, 1968 (age 56)
Algonquin, Illinois, US
Medal record
Men's Track and field
Representing  United States
Paralympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul 800m A1-3/A9/L2
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul 5000m A1-3/A9/L2

Kevin Orr (born June 29, 1968) is an American Paralympic athlete and coach. Orr won two bronze medals at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in the 800 and 5,000 meter races. Upon retiring from playing, Orr became a coach for Team USA (2001-2004), USA Wheelchair Track (2005-2008) Canada (2009-2016), and Japan (2017-2023).

Early life

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Orr was born on June 29, 1968, in Algonquin, Illinois to parents Mike and Sue. He was born with a birth defect (arthrogryposis) which caused limited use of his legs.[1] By the age of two, with the assistance of physio therapists at McHenry County Easter Seal Therapy Center, Orr was able to walk with the assistance of crutches.[2]

While attending Jacobs High School, Orr joined the wrestling team with his twin brother and played non-competitive soccer and basketball. Due to his birth defect, Orr was unable to compete in Algonquin's soccer program but, instead, acted as a referee.[3] Orr competed in the 105 weight class as a sophomore but never won a meet. Due to his disability, he was forced to crawl to the mat and start in a kneeling position which resulted in an immediate point for his opponent.[4] During his sophomore year, Orr was inspired to pursue wheelchair sports after watching Sharon Hedrick win a gold medal in the 800-meter wheelchair race at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[1] The following year, Orr competed against older athletes in the Men's Division of the Michigan Avenue Mile Wheelchair Race and finished third with a time of 5 minutes, 29.89 seconds.[5]

Career

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Upon graduating from high school, Orr enrolled at the University of Illinois due to their program for disabled athletes.[6] By the age of 19, he had won the Chicago Area Running Association Disabled Circuit, the 10-kilometer wheelchair race in the Prairie State Games, and two bronze medals in the elite division at the Men's National Track and Field Meet of the National Wheelchair Games.[7] As a result, Orr also qualified for the United States Nation Team to compete at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, Korea. He later credited the University of Illinois wheelchair basketball coach and head of recreation and athletics, Brad Hedrick, for helping him with his success.[8]

At the 1988 Summer Paralympics, Orr won two bronze medals in the 800 and 5,000 meter races.[9] During his four years at the university, he was a member of four consecutive National Championship Wheelchair Basketball teams and was named the MVP in his senior year.[10][11] After graduating in 1990 with a degree in therapeutic recreation, Orr moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he started a wheelchair rugby program at Lakeshore Foundation.[9] In 1996, Orr founded the Lakeshore Demolition Derby tournament and created the 40 second shot clock. The clock was eventually adopted by the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation.[12]

From 1999 until 2004, Orr served as the head coach of Team USA's Wheelchair Rugby team and was featured in the documentary Murderball.[13] However, after the team lost to Canada in the 2004 Summer Paralympics, he was released from the team. Following this, he accepted a position as one of the USA wheelchair racing track coaches during the 2008 Summer Paralympics and was picked as the head coach of Team Canada’s wheelchair rugby team.[14] Following the Rio Paralympics, Coach Orr moved on to coach the Japan Wheelchair Rugby team (2017-2023) for the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. Kevin's team won the World Championship in 2018 in Sydney and the bronze medal in 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.[15] In 2019, Orr was inducted into the U.S. Quadriplegic Rugby Hall of Fame.[1]

Personal life

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Orr and his wife Stephanie have two daughters together.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Stevenson, Joe (March 30, 2019). "Algonquin native to be inducted into U.S. Quadriplegic Rugby Hall of Fame". Northwest Herald. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  2. ^ "Kevin is a winner". The Daily Sentinel. March 17, 1971. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Breesch, Eileen (January 18, 1983). "Handicap no crutch to this wrestler". The Herald. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Losing Wrestler Really a Big Winner". The Palm Beach Post. February 16, 1984. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Orr nabs a bronze". Cardunal Free Press. October 2, 1985. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Kevin Orr Head Coach". quadrugby.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2004. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  7. ^ English, Phil (July 22, 1987). "A role model, indeed". Northwest Herald. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Orr". Northwest Herald. July 22, 1987. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Krishnamurthy, Madhu (March 1, 2016). "Jacobs alum inducted into wheelchair basketball hall of fame". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on March 2, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  10. ^ Vorva, Jeff (April 13, 1990). "Algonquin's Kevin Orr: Four years, four titles". Northwest Herald. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Orr cont". Northwest Herald. April 13, 1990. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Kevin Orr - Coach - 2019". usqra.ca. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  13. ^ Westhoff, Jeffrey (March 3, 2006). "Murder, he coached". Northwest Herald. Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Sport Week: From USA to Canada, Orr keeps it pro". paralympic.org. December 6, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Orr was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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