Former Manilla boy Tom O'Neill-Thorne will take to the court for the Aussie Rollers in Tokyo on Thursday as they begin their quest for Paralympic gold against Iran.
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O'Neill-Thorne spent the early years of his life in Manilla, and still has family in the area.
Now living in Darwin, the Tokyo games will be the 24-year old's second Paralympics after debuting at Rio in 2016, where the men's wheelchair basketball side finished a disappointing sixth.
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Born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a condition affecting mobility in his legs, O'Neill-Thorne has been in a wheelchair since he was two.
He got involved in wheelchair basketball when he was nine, and in 2014 became the youngest-ever player selected to represent Australia at the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships.
Seventeen at the time, he helped the Rollers go on to win gold.
Since then the point guard has been a regular in the green and gold, and in 2018 was part of the side that won bronze at the World Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
Following Iran, the Rollers play Algeria on Friday, Germany on Saturday, the USA on Sunday and Great Britain on Monday.
