Graeme Robert Ballard (born 16 June 1979) is an English

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

, who competes mainly in category T36 sprint events. Graeme was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He competed in both the T36 100m and 200m in the

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

winning the bronze medal in 200m. Four years later, he competed in the 100m, 200m and 400m but won the silver medal in the T36 100m in the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

. He has also competed for the national 7-a-side football team and competed at a national level in swimming. Graeme has the world record in T36 100m. He won two silver medals at the 2014

IPC Athletics European Championships The World Para Athletics European Championships (''European Para Athletics Championships''), known prior to 2018 as the IPC Athletics European Championships is an event organized by World Para Athletics, the international athletics federation estab ...

in the T36 100m and 200m in Swansea. He finished just ahead of his teammate Paul Blake in the 100m but on both occasions, the Briton was beaten to the gold medal by the Russian

Evgenii Shvetcov Evgeny Shvetsov (''born 28 February 1988'') is a Paralympian track and field athlete from Russia competing mainly in category T36 sprint and middle-distance events. A triple gold medal winner at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Shvetcov set three ...

. Ballard also reached the final of the 400m where he recorded a personal best of 57.18 to finish in fourth place. He placed fifth in the Rio Paralympic games with 12.84 seconds after a false start that disqualified another Ukrainian athlete and a new Paralympic record being set by a Malaysian athlete.

References

External links

profile on paralympic.org
Paralympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain British male sprinters Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain 1979 births World record holders in para-athletics Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) {{UK-Paralympic-medalist-stub