Tristan Knowles

Triumph And Adversity Fuel The Fight 

Tristan Knowles knows better than anyone that ‘every single story of success and triumph has adversity in it’.  

He was just nine years old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer. 

“I was told I would have to start chemotherapy and have my left leg amputated,” Knowles said.  

“I got terrible news when I was 11 that they’d found cancer in my lung.  

“I turned to my doctor and said what are my chances of surviving and he said ‘50/50’.” 

Knowles is now a five-time Paralympian and World Champion in wheelchair basketball, feats the Australian Rollers captain for Paris 2024 attributes to the power of positive thinking.  

“My parents and my doctor confessed when I was placed in remission the second time that my chances of surviving were only about 10 percent,” he said. 

“That’s probably where it was really sort of highlighted to me, the power of mindset.” 

More than 20 years after first playing for the national team, the fire in Knowles is as strong as ever. He was part of the silver medal-winning teams at Athens 2004 and London 2012 and tasted the ultimate prize when the Rollers won gold at Beijing 2008.  

However, after missing the podium at the past two Games, the Rollers have their eyes on the prize in Paris after scoring direct qualification by winning the hotly contested Asia Oceania Zone Championship.  

“Those moments, those days, those weeks where it feels like things aren’t going to plan, I just remind myself that this is the adversity that I need to fight through if I am to get to that gold medal.”