Images: Paralympics Australia.
The Paralympic Games begins tomorrow, and Australia has its largest ever team for an overseas Games.
The team is made up of 179 athletes competing across 18 sports, including in the debut disciplines of Parataekwondo and Para-badminton, and it features multiple South Australian athletes.
SA team members include Para-athletics competitor Michael Roeger, Para-rowing athlete Simon Albury, and Para-cycler Grant Allen. Roeger now lives in ACT, but the three-time Paralympian attended high school in SA’s Langhorne Creek; Albury was born and raised in Brisbane, but he moved to Balaklava in 2017 and has been a proud South Aussie ever since; and Allen, an SA native and current resident, grew up on a farm in Auburn and moved to Adelaide after graduating high school.
Allen currently resides in Port Adelaide, where he recently opened disability equipment store Push Mobility.
“Whatever it is that we can help you with, let’s make it happen. We’re here with a ‘can do’ mindset and are ready to go,” Allen says about his store. Something tells us this positive attitude also helps him in his Para-cycling!
The Paralympic team and its SA members will start in the competition tomorrow, and Australian Institute of Sport CEO is looking forward to the event’s new programs.
“Since the Rio 2016 Games, we have been focused on initiating new programs to respond to the priorities and needs of sports. Programs such as Tokyo Heat – designed to equip our athletes for the challenges of competing in the hottest Paralympic Games on record, the athlete and coach mentoring conducted through the Gold Medal Ready Program, and the support of the Mental Health Referral Network have helped to give our Paralympians the best chance for success in Tokyo,” Conde says.
Australian Sports Commission Chair Josephine Sukkar prides the Paralympians on their hard work and wishes the team good luck.
“The lead up to these Paralympic Games has been unlike any other, but we can all be inspired by the persistence,
resilience and dedication our athletes have shown to overcome the challenges these specific Games have thrown up, and be ready to compete in Tokyo,” Sukkar says.
“The performances we saw from Australian athletes during the Olympics were an enormous source of pride for us all and the Paralympics will be no different.”
Find out more about Australia’s team here.
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