Professional Wheelchair Basket Ball Player Fabian Romo, 26, helped his team secure their place in the Paralympics when the squad won Gold in the American PARAPAN games in 2023. He will be competing for the USA national team in the upcoming Paralympics in Paris in 2024. He is an excellent basketball player who has several U-23 championships to his name.
Fabian Romo will make his Paralympic debut
Fabian Romo will participate in the Paralympics for the first time. He represented the United States at the 2023 Parapan American Games, where his team won the gold medal.
Last summer, Romo helped the American team defeat Colombia with a score of 81-45 at the 2023 Parapan American Games in Chile.
This victory secured the team’s qualification for the 2024 Paralympic Games. The head coach of Team USA, Ron Lykins, and his assistant coaches are satisfied with the 2024 squad selected by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.
Personal Life and Family of Fabian
Fabian Romo was born in 1998 in Arlington, his hometown. He is the son of Arturo Romo and Sylvia Romo.
Sylvia noticed her son’s competitive spirit when he was a young swimmer competing against able-bodied kids, and his prosthetic limb drew attention from fellow swimmers and spectators at the pool. Although Fabian acknowledged that he started wheelchair basketball later in life, he expressed gratitude for the support of his parents and three older siblings.
Romo uses a prosthetic leg to move around and did not need a wheelchair until he was introduced to the sport as a freshman in high school. He grew up living life either in wheelchairs or walking with a prosthetic leg, which he now calls a “robot leg.” However, he never allowed his condition to be an excuse for not leading a normal life.
Romo completed his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering in May 2019, but his graduation ceremony was late due to the pandemic.
He plans to pursue a career in orthopedics and help design and build assistive devices for people like himself. Romo graduated from UT-Arlington with a degree in exercise science.
Fabian Romo was Born with PFFD
Fabian Romo, now 26 years old, was born with a birth defect called proximal focal femoral deficiency (PFFD), which resulted in his left leg not being fully formed. When he was 4 years old, his limb had to be amputated just above the knee. Dealing with this condition at such a young age was extremely difficult for him, even before reaching an age where kids often make fun of their peers for much smaller reasons.
As a child, despite having a prosthetic leg, Romo still desired to play sports with other kids at school. However, as he grew older, he found it challenging to keep up with the other children and be a part of any sport. Despite his disability, Romo expressed gratitude to God, stating that the disability shaped who he is and led him to this remarkable day.
Fabian Romo is Happily Engaged with the love of his life
Fabian is in a happy relationship with Daisy Lopez. The couple met each other in early 2019 and have been together since then.
On July 23, 2023, Fabian and Daisy got engaged to each other. The couple frequently posts photos of themselves on their social media accounts.
How was his Initial Career and Hotwheels Basketball Team
While wearing his prosthetic leg, Fabian Romo could shoot a basketball, but he could not run. Three years ago, he discovered wheelchair basketball, and he loved that he could compete in a sport he enjoyed. Romo joined the TIRR Memorial Hermann Hotwheels, a team that competes in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association juniors division.
The Hotwheels team won the national championship in 2013. After that, Romo became hooked on the sport. He established himself as one of the best all-around players, which led to UT-Arlington coach Don Garner recruiting him.
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The University of Texas at Arlington signed Romo onto their wheelchair basketball team, and due to his excellent academic record with straight A’s, he received a full scholarship.
Fabian Romo, a senior at Elkins High School, never let any challenge hinder him, especially when it came to sports.
Fabian Romo is a professional basketball Athlete
His success and five years with the Movin’ Mavs team ultimately led Fabian Romo to become a professional athlete. With the Movin’ Mavs, Romo earned All-American honors, helped the team win a national championship in 2017, and was called up to represent Team USA in multiple international tournaments.
During his college career, Romo shot 45 percent from the field, leading the UT-Arlington Movin’ Mavs to a national championship in 2017. Additionally, Romo was an alternate for the U.S. Men’s roster in 2020, and he earned his first Team USA experience in 2017 at the IWBF Under 23 America’s Zonal Qualifier and IWBF U23 World Championships.
Romo was also a contributing member of the U.S. Men’s squad that won gold at the 2022 World Championships and America Cup.
In the 2023 American PARAPAN games, he helped his national team win gold and secure a quota spot in the upcoming Paris Olympics 2024.
Romo, a native Spanish speaker, expressed gratitude to the Team USA Paralympic veterans who he reached out to for support.
While the U.S. is a top destination for prospective wheelchair basketball players looking to earn a scholarship and play concurrently with their desired field of study, it lacks a professional league, which is why players like Romo end up playing in countries like Spain, France, Germany, or Turkey. Currently, Romo plays professional wheelchair basketball in Spain.
With the Paralympics 2024 approaching, Fabian is now training hard with his USA national team partners at the Colorado Olympics Training Center.
