WAIS athlete Darren Gardiner was today named as one of the first two athletes officially selected onto the 2012 Australian Paralympic Team after the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) announced the Powerlifting team that will head to London.
Nicknamed ‘Bear’ for the deafening roar he lets out before competition; Gardiner joins Queensland’s Abebe Fekadu in a team of two set to take on the world this August.
It will be the fourth Paralympic Games for the 42-year-old leg amputee who first competed in Sydney 2000 and has since won two silver medals at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. As one of the strongest men on the international powerlifting circuit, he was the only Australian to win a powerlifting medal in Beijing four years ago.
Currently ranked fifth in the world with a personal best lift of 235kg, Gardiner is aiming to lift a whopping 240kg at what he says will be his final Paralympic Games.
“I was going to retire after the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008 but at the time I had a chat with my coach Ray Epstein and he thought I had another four years in me so I decided to give London a go,” said Gardiner.
“Anytime you have the chance to represent your country on an international platform is an honour. But I’m a seasoned campaigner and my excitement; well I guess you’d call it more of a calm excitement now.”
Gardiner is a part of the WAIS Individual Athlete Support Program, with the Institute supporting high performing West Australian sportspeople who undertake sports which WAIS does not run a program for. This includes sports such as Powerlifting, Wheelchair Basketball, Archery, BMX, Slalom Canoeing, Equestrian and Volleyball.
A biography on Darren Gardiner can be found on the APC website – http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/darren-gardiner
