Neil Robert Fuller,
OAM (born 2 August 1969 in
Shoreham by Sea
Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham) is a coastal town and port in West Sussex, England.
The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs, to its west by the Adur Valley and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the ...
,
Sussex) is an Australian athlete,
Paralympic
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 impaired ...
competitor, and amputee.
During his youth, Neil was an ambitious
soccer player, gaining a position playing at state level for
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. It was during a soccer match on 25 July 1987
that his
tibia and
fibula were broken, and a major
artery
An artery (plural arteries) () is a blood vessel in humans and most animals that takes blood away from the heart to one or more parts of the body (tissues, lungs, brain etc.). Most arteries carry oxygenated blood; the two exceptions are the p ...
in his right leg was severed in an attempted tackle to the shin. Legally
becoming an adult during his 22 days in hospital, he opted to have the lower part of his right leg amputated after
gangrene had set in.
In February 1989, Fuller entered the Amputee Nationals in Adelaide in the 100m race, long jump and high jump. Fuller was then selected as a member of the Australian team to compete at the Far East and South Pacific International Championships where he competed in the 100m, long jump, high jump and the pentathlon.
After the accident, Fuller made a comeback into the world of sports becoming a world class runner and world record holder.
He is now coordinator of Sport at St Peters Collegiate Girls School in Adelaide, South Australia
Athletic Achievement
In 1990, Fuller competed in the World Championships and Games for the Disabled in
Assen
Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Sund ...
,
Netherlands winning a bronze medal in the men's long jump 7F. Fuller also participated in the 1998 World Championships in Birmingham, UK where he won four gold medals. He participated in four consecutive
Summer Paralympic Games, from 1992 to 2004. In
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
he won a gold medal, for which he received a
Medal of the Order of Australia,
two silver medals, and one bronze medal. At the
1996 Summer Paralympics
The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million.
It was the first Paralympic Games where Internation ...
, he won silver in the 100 and 200 metre races and gold in the 4×100 metre relay. Four years later, at the
Sydney Paralympics, he won four gold medals in the 200 metres, 400 metres, 4×100 metre relay, and 4×400 metre relay, and a bronze in the 100 metres. At the
2004 Paralympics in
Athens, he won two silver medals in the 400 metres and the 4×400 metre relay, and a bronze in the 4×100 metre relay.
Awards
He was inducted into the Athletics South Australia Hall of Fame in 1997.
In 2012, Neil was inducted into the South Australia Sport Hall of Fame.
In 2000, Fuller received an
Australian Sports Medal
The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...
for "service to amputee athletics as World Class Competitor and Development of National Training Squad".
In 2001, he was inducted into 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 ...
'Best of the Best'
Australian Institute of Sport 'Best of the Best'
References
External links
Athletics.org profile
at Australian Athletics Historical Results
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuller, Neil
English emigrants to Australia
Paralympic athletes for Australia
Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
Paralympic gold medalists for Australia
Paralympic silver medalists for Australia
Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia
Australian amputees
Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal
Sportsmen from South Australia
Living people
Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic track and field athletes
1969 births
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
Australian male sprinters
Sprinters with limb difference
Paralympic sprinters