 Donna Smith throwing a Javelin at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Donna Maree Philp (née Smith) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 28 June 1965 Brisbane | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 22 May 1999 (aged 33) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Donna Maree Philp (née Smith), OAM[1] (28 June 1965 – 22 May 1999)[2][3] was an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair basketballer, who won six medals at four Paralympics.
Born in Brisbane,[2] Smith was diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of thirteen, and one of her legs was amputated above the knee.[3]
At the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics, she won a gold medal in the Women's Javelin A2 event, a silver medal in the Women's Shot Put A2 event, and a bronze medal in the Women's Discus A2 event.[4] She won a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Paralympics in the Women's Javelin A6A8A9L6 event.[4] At the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, she won a gold medal in the Women's Javelin THS2 event, for which she received a Medal of the Order of Australia,[1] and a silver medal in the Women's Shot Put THS2 event.[4]
She then married Tom Philp, and was part of the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics.[3][5] The couple's son was 10 months old when, while playing wheelchair basketball on 22 May 1999, she died of a heart attack at the age of 33.[3]
