WA Track and Field Talent Selected for #Rio2016
Four Western Australian athletes have today been named on the 44-strong Australian Track and Field squad for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.
Wheelchair racer Madison de Rozario and middle distance runner Brad Scott will both line up for third Paralympic campaigns, whilst sprinters Chad Perris and Ella Pardy will make their representative debuts at Paralympic level for the Australian Flame.
The athletics squad is the largest sport section within the Australian Paralympic Team for Rio and Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin believes that this team can perform strongly in Brazil.
“Naming the athletes on our biggest team for Rio is an exciting milestone for the Australian Paralympic Committee, and we’re particularly excited to see what this outstanding team can achieve,” McLoughlin said.
“Australia has a rich history in Paralympic athletics. We’ve won more than 350 medals since the sport was introduced at the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960.
“And if the Australian Paralympic Team is to finish in the top 5 on the medal tally in Rio, it will be this group who will largely determine whether we achieve that goal.”
Despite being just 22 years of age, Sydney based Madison de Rozario will compete in a third Games for her country, with a busy competition schedule including action in the T53 – 800m, 1500m, 5000m and as a member of the Australian wheelchair 4x400m relay.
The 2015 IPC World Champion was diagnosed with transverse myelitis – a neurological disease causing inflammation of the spinal cord at age four. She took up wheelchair sports at age 12, and by 14 years of age, was making her Paralympic debut in Beijing.
Bunbury born athlete Brad Scott will similarly compete in a third Paralympics, with the 28 year-old looking to win a medal at a third consecutive Games.
Scott – who was born with cerebral palsy – won silver in the 800m in Beijing, before adding silver (1500m) and bronze (800m) medals in London in 2012. In Rio, Scott will focus on the 1500m event.
Chad Perris will compete in the T13 100m sprint in Brazil, in what will be his first Paralympics for Australia. Perris is visually impaired, having been born with albinism, which also affects pigment in his skin, eyes and hair.
He is affectionately known as the “White Tiger” by family and friends and has said that wearing the green and gold of Australia in international competition has been a dream come true.
Having competed for Australia at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in Scotland, Ella Pardy will now add the title of Paralympic athlete to her sporting resume, when she contests the T38 (cerebral palsy) 100m and 4x100m relay events in Brazil.
At 25 years of age, Pardy lives and trains in Perth, under coach Sebastian Kuzminski – who also trains Brad Scott.
WA’s numbers as part of the Australian Paralympic Team now sit at 16. The Paralympic Games begin on September 7 and run through to September 18.
*Note This figure also includes WA swimmer Madeleine Scott (now based in Canberra), who was not listed in yesterday’s swimming selection release by WAIS.