Darren Gardiner (born 19 November 1969) is an Australian Paralympic powerlifter. He has won two Paralympic silver medals in the Men's Over 100 kg powerlifting event. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.

Personal

Gardiner was born on 19 November 1969. In 1994, at the age of 24, his left leg was amputated below the knee due to cancer. He works as a sales manager. He moved from Brisbane to Perth in 2006. He weighs . Gardiner is also known by the nickname of 'The Bear'. Gardiner was given this nickname because of his unusual pre-lift behaviour which sees him roar like a bear.

Powerlifting

Gardiner started powerlifting in 1995, and first represented Australia in 1998. He competes in the Over 100 kg men division. He has had the nickname "the bear" since 1997 because of the loud roaring noise he makes during competition. , he is ranked second in the world. , his personal best lift is 235 kg. He competed at the

2000 Sydney Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

but did not win a medal. At the

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, he won a silver medal in the Men's Over 100 kg event, when he lifted 227.5 kg. He repeated his silver medal performance in the same event at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. In 2005, he competed at the Trafalgar event in Melbourne, where he won a bronze medal in the EAD category for powerlifting with a lift of . He has competed at several other events outside the Paralympics. In 2006, he finished second at the World Championships. That year, he took a bronze at the

2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held i ...

. He won a silver medal in 2007 at the European Open. He did not compete for most of 2010 due to injury. At the 2011 Oceania Paralympic Championships, part of the Arafura Games, he finished first with a score of 230, 70 more than second place competitor

Abebe Fekadu Abebe Fekadu (born 20 April 1970) is an Ethiopian Australian powerlifter. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, where he finished tenth. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in powerlifting. He did not me ...

. He was selected to compete at the 2012 London Paralympics. He did not medal at the 2012 Games, missing out on a bronze medal by 1 kg. His retirement was announced in December 2012. Darren's retirement marked the end of his successful 15-year career.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Darren Paralympic powerlifters for Australia Powerlifters at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Powerlifters at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Amputee category Paralympic competitors Australian amputees Sportspeople from Brisbane Sportspeople from Perth, Western Australia 1969 births Living people Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Paralympic medalists in powerlifting 20th-century Australian sportspeople 21st-century Australian sportspeople Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games