Paralympic Over Achievers

Toby Kane in action. Image – Getty Images

Australia’s paralympic athletes are a collection of high achievers, quite apart from representing Australia at sport’s highest level – with numerous titles and medals amongst them – the nine men and two women can offer up quite an incredible list of accomplishments that are all the more astounding considering they spend a great deal of their time training and competing.

Shannon Dallas in Torino 2006. Image – Courtesy Shannon Dallas

In their spare time this is what the athletes get up to:

Cameron Rahles-Rahbula – physiotherapist
Bart Bunting – IT manager
Toby Kane -studying medical science
Marty Mayberry – studying medicine
Nicholas Watts – studying biomedical engineering
Mitchell Gourley – just graduated from high school
Jessica Gallagher – Osteopath, current Oceania record holder for Long Jump and Shot Put, National Discus, Long Jump and Shot Put records holder, selected for the 2008 Beijing Summer Paralympics
Dominic Moneypenny – research chemist, Phd in organic chemistry, 2008 Beijing Summer Paralympics competitor (rowing)
James Millar – just completed a landscape architecture degree
Melissa Perrine – studying exercise science

It takes a certain personality type to commit to the demands of elite level sport, a determined personality that’s clearly being exhibited in the Australian Paralympic team.

Jessica Gallagher’s bronze medal winning run. Image – Getty Images