Kathryn 'Katy' Parrish (born 4 July 1991) is an Australian athletics competitor. She was selected to represent at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games

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 ...

and at 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 ...

in athletics in the 4 × 100 metre relay, 100 metres, 200 metres and long jump events.

Personal

Parrish was born on 4 July 1991 in Adelaide, South Australia. After finishing high school she trained in Melbourne, Victoria as an elite athlete in sprints and long jump under retired Paralympian Tim Matthews. Parrish was born 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 ...

that affects the left side of her body. She was diagnosed with the condition when she was three years old. Parrish represented Australia at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and the 2012 London Paralympic Games She has three older brothers. While in school, she did a number of sports including

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

, touch football and knee boarding.

Athletics

070912 - Katy Parrish - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics

Parrish is a T38 classified athletics competitor who specialises in the 100 metres, 200 metres and the long jump. In 2008, she had a scholarship with the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. , she has a scholarship with the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succe ...

, and trains with Tim Matthews in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

. Parrish started competing in 2006, following an Adelaide-based Australian Paralympic talent search event. She first represented Australia at the 2007 Arafura Games, where she won a gold medal in the 100 metre event and another gold medal in the 200 metre event. She set national records in the 100 metre and 200 metre events for Australia at the 2008 Australian National Championships. She represented Australia at the

, making the finals in the 100 metre and 200 metre events. She finished eighth overall in the 100 metres and fifth overall in the 200 metres event. At the 2011 Arafura Games, she finished second in the Women Long Jump Ambulant event with a distance of 3.98 metres, and earned two gold medals. She competed in the 2012 Australian Athletics Championships. With a jump of 4.35 metres, she won the long jump event. She was selected to represent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

in athletics in the 4 × 100 metre relay, 100 metres, 200 metres and long jump events.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parrish, Katherine Paralympic athletes for Australia Living people 1991 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Australian female sprinters Australian female long jumpers Victorian Institute of Sport alumni 21st-century Australian women 21st-century Australian people Athletes from Adelaide Sportswomen from South Australia