Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race is held on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

The Rocks, Sydney The Rocks is a suburb, tourist precinct and historic area of Sydney's city centre, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, immediately north-west of the Sydney central business district ...

and is marquee event on the international

wheelchair racing Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

calendar, attracting prominent international and Australian athletes.

History

The inaugural race was held in 1990 around Centennial Park in Sydney amongst traffic travelling around the Park. The inaugural race was the brainchild of Peter Trotter and

Jeff Wiseman Jeff Wiseman (born 26 January 1950) is an Australian Paralympic athlete who has competed at two Paralympics and is a wheelchair mechanic. He has played a significant role in the development of wheelchair sport in New South Wales. Wiseman was b ...

, two prominent wheelchair racers that trained at the Park. Trotter a former 10 km road racing champion had competed in similar events throughout the world. Their philosophy in creating the event was for disabled children to see elite wheelchair athletes in competition. Sixty five athletes including sixteen international and eighteen interstate athletes competed. Australian cricketer Mike Whitney started the race and

New South Wales Premier The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

Nick Greiner Nicholas Frank Hugo Greiner (;) (born 27 April 1947) is an Australian politician who served as the 37th Premier of New South Wales from 1988 to 1992. Greiner was Leader of the New South Wales Division of the Liberal Party from 1983 to 1992 an ...

and record breaking aviator

Gaby Kennard Gaby Kennard (born 1944, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) was the first Australian woman to circumnavigate the globe by airplane. When she was 18 she found out that her natural father was a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Force du ...

presented the winners prizes which included prize money. Over one thousand spectators watched the event. The race was moved to the Sydney Rocks area in 1991 and consisted of two 5 km laps. Over the years, the organisers have encountered difficulties as major city roads need to be closed. The race in normally held early in the morning to overcome the difficulties of road closures. The race is supported by the

Australia Day Council The National Australia Day Council (NADC) is a non-profit social enterprise owned by the Australian Government and is the national coordinating body for the Australian of the Year awards and Australia Day. It was established in 1979 and inco ...

and

Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, th ...

and managed by

Wheelchair Sports NSW Wheelchair Sports NSW is the peak New South Wales sports organisation that assists people with disabilities ranging from spinal cord injury, spina bifida, amputation, paraplegia, quadriplegia to other similar disabling conditions. The organisation w ...

. It is now an iconic event in Sydney on Australia Day.

Results

301000 - Athletics wheelchair racing Kurt Fearnley action 3 - 3b - 2000 Sydney race photo

231000 - Athletics wheelchair racing 800m T54 final Louise Sauvage concentrates - 3b - 2000 Sydney race photo

Prominent international and Australian athletes have competed in the event and prize money is awarded. At the completion of the 2018 event,

Kurt Fearnley Kurt Harry Fearnley, (born 23 March 1981) is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and 'crawled' the Kokoda Track. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development ...

had won the race eleven times and

Louise Sauvage Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM (born 18 September 1973) is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach. Sauvage is often regarded as the most renowned disabled sportswoman in Australia. She won nine gold and four silver medals at fo ...

ten times.

Senior Events

Junior and Masters Events

* 2021 event entries impacted by COVID-19 international and interstate restrictions.

References

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External links

Oz Day Race Results – Wheelchair Sports NSW

Celebrating 25 Years of the Oz Day 10K – Video
Wheelchair racing Annual sporting events in Australia Sports competitions in Sydney Recurring sporting events established in 1990 Athletics competitions in Australia 1990 establishments in Australia