Ella Chafee

Ella Chafee née Cox (March 4, 1945–June 16, 2019) was an American wheelchair basketball player and wheelchair fencer who competed at three Paralympic Games. She also took part in track and field and swimming.

Ella Chafee

Chafee in 2008
Personal information
Born	(1945-03-04)March 4, 1945 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died	June 16, 2019(2019-06-16) (aged 74) Oak Lawn, Illinois, United States
Alma mater	University of Illinois
Height	5 ft 2 in (157 cm)
Sport
Sport	Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair basketball Para Swimming Wheelchair slalom Wheelchair racing
Disability	Polio
Club	Chicago Charmers, Ryan AbilityLab (Formerly Rehab Institute of Chicago) Express/Sky
Medal record Representing United States Paralympic Games Paralympic swimming 1964 Tokyo 50m freestyle supine class 3 1964 Tokyo 50m freestyle prone class 3 Paralympic athletics 1968 Tel Aviv Women's 4x40m relay open Wheelchair fencing 1964 Tokyo Women's foil team Wheelchair basketball 1968 Tel Aviv Women's tournament

Sporting career

Chafee contracted polio when she was six years old during the 1950s. She took part in wheelchair racing in the early 1960s as well as wheelchair basketball. She and her sister-in-law Hope Chafee, who also has polio, both took part in the 1964 Summer Paralympics where Ella won two medals in swimming and Hope won three medals. Ella participated in the 1968 Summer Paralympics and won the gold medal in the women's 4x40m relay. Ella returned to the Games in 1996 as a wheelchair fencer.

In 1979, Chafee took part in the Boston Marathon in the wheelchair division.

Chafee was inducted into the National Wheelchair Athletic Association (now Move United) Hall of Fame in 1990 and the National Wheelchair Basketball Association Hall of Fame in 2014.

Death

Chafee died of a liver aneurysm aged 74 at a hospital in Oak Lawn on June 16, 2019.