Louise Sauvage
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Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM (born 18 September 1973) is an Australian
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 impaire ...
wheelchair racer 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 ...
and leading coach. Sauvage is often regarded as the most renowned disabled sportswoman in Australia. She won nine gold and four silver medals at four Paralympic Games and eleven gold and two silver medals at three
IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...
. She has won four
Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...
s, and held world records in the 1500 m, 5000 m and 4x100 m and 4x400 m relays. She was Australian Female Athlete of the Year in 1999, and International Female Wheelchair Athlete of the Year in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, her autobiography ''Louise Sauvage: My Story'' was published.


Early life

Sauvage was born in 1973 in
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
, Western Australia, the daughter of Rita (née Rigden) and Maurice Sauvage. Her mother was a
Ten Pound Pom Ten Pound Poms (or Ten Pound tourists) is a colloquial term used in Australia and New Zealand to describe British citizens who migrated to Australia and New Zealand after the Second World War. The Government of Australia initiated the Assisted ...
from
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, England, while her father was born in the British colony of
Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
.Biography
at She's Game, Women making Australian sporting history
She was born with a severe congenital spinal condition called
myelomeningocele Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, me ...
, which inhibits the function of the lower half of the body, giving limited control over the legs. In 1976 she was Perth's ''
Telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...
Child'' as part of a Channel 7 fund-raiser for children with disabilities. She used calipers to help walk until she received her first wheelchair.Hutchinson, G. (2002). ''The best Australian sports writing, 2002.'' Melbourne, Vic: Black Inc. p.64. Her myelomeningocele required her to have 21 surgical operations by the time she was ten years old. As a preteen, Sauvage had
scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not t ...
,Hutchinson, G. (2002). ''The best Australian sports writing, 2002.'' Melbourne, Vic: Black Inc. p.65. and at 14, she had surgery to fix a curvature in her spine, using steel rods. The operation was only partially successful, and as an adult, she still has a curve of roughly 49 degrees. She has not had any subsequent surgery to fix the curve in her spine. Sauvage grew up in
Joondanna, Western Australia Joondanna is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its local government area is the City of Stirling. There is a Catholic church, St Denis, and a small Catholic primary school of the same name. Joondanna is named after a farm said to be owned by ...
, attending Tuart Hill Primary School and
Hollywood Senior High School , motto_translation = , established = , type = Public co-educational high day school , principal = , streetaddress = Smyth Road , city = Shenton Park , state = Western Australia , country = Austra ...
before leaving to complete a
TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE (), is the common name in English-speaking countries in Oceania for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational cours ...
course in office and secretarial studies. She underwent 20 operations before the age of 10. Her parents encouraged her to participate in sport from a very young age. She started swimming when she was three years old, with her parents enrolling her in swimming classes to help her build upper body strength.Julie, Robotham. "Sauvage savours her Magic moment." ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 21 February 2011: 5. Sauvage started to compete in wheelchair sport at the age of eight. Before that time, she had attempted to play school sport with her classmates but her disability made it difficult. She took up competitive wheelchair racing when she was 15. Sauvage also tried wheelchair basketball as a youngster.


Competitive athletic career

From the ages of 10 to 13, Sauvage represented Western Australia in the national swim championships. She was forced to retire from swimming when she turned 14, because of surgery. When Sauvage first started competing in wheelchair racing, the chairs all had four wheels and were similar to the chairs that they used off the track. The chairs did not have any form of steering. The front wheels were smaller than the back wheels, and when at high speed, they were prone to wobbling. By 1997, racing wheelchairs had basically finished undergoing massive changes to improve them.Hutchinson, G. (2002). ''The best Australian sports writing, 2002.'' Melbourne, Vic: Black Inc. p.67. In 1990, Sauvage competed in her first international competition in
Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...
, Holland, where she won gold in the 100 m setting a new world record. She also won the 200 m race but was disqualified for moving out of her lane. At the
Stoke Mandeville Games Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...
in England the same year, Sauvage took gold in the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, and two relays.Sauvage, Louise, and Ian Heads. Louise Sauvage: My Story. Pymble, N.S.W: HarperCollins, 2002. Print.


Paralympic Games

Before the start of the
1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...
, Sauvage held Australian records for the 100 m, 200 m, 800 m, 1500 m and marathon in women's wheelchair racing events. She was being marketed by the Australian Paralympic Federation as Australia's top female wheelchair road racer. At the Barcelona Paralympic Games, she won gold medals in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m and a silver in the 800 m TW4 events and finished sixth in Marathon TW3-4. In recognition of her athletic feats she was awarded a
Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
. Sauvage was in danger of not going to the 1992 Paralympics because of funding issues for the Australian Paralympic Federation. The Federation made an emergency appeal for funding from the public in order to cover the cost of transporting the Australian team to Barcelona. The Federation found funding through a variety of small donations that allowed Sauvage and other Australian athletes to compete. At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, she won four gold medals - 400 m (T53), 800 m (T53), 1500 m (T52-53) and 1500 m (T52-53) and finished fourth in Marathon (T52-53). She won these while having an injured wrist. She set world records in the 1500 m and 5000 m events during these Games. Sauvage won the 5000 m and the 400 m golds only an hour apart. At her final Paralympics in Sydney, 2000, she won two gold medals - 1500 m and 5000 m T54 events and silver medal in 800 m T54.


IPC Athletics World championships

Sauvage competed at three
IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...
. At the 1994 Championships in Berlin, Germany, she won four gold medals in T53 events - 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and Marathon. At the 1998 Championships in Birmingham, England, she won six gold medals in 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, Marathon - T55 events, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m (T54-55). At her final Championships in 2002 at Lille, France, she won gold medal in 800 m T54 and silver medals in 1500 m and 5000 m T54.


Road racing

1993 was Sauvage's first year 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 ...
circuit, competing in the US and Europe.Louise Sauvage steering WA's Madison de Rozario to Paralympic gold
/ref> It was also the year that she got her first kneeling wheelchair. The pinnacle being the world-famous
Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...
where she recorded her first victory, in the women's wheelchair division, in 1997, breaking the stranglehold of the 'Queen of Boston', US racer
Jean Driscoll Jean Driscoll (born November 18, 1966) is an American wheelchair racer. She won the women's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon eight times, more than any other female athlete in any division. Her wins in Boston included seven consecutive ...
. Sauvage went on to win a further three Boston titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001. She has won the
Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...
,
Honolulu Marathon The Honolulu Marathon (branded JAL Honolulu Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is a marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2km) in Honolulu, Hawaii, first held in 1973. It is one of the world's largest marathons, taking place annually on the second Sunday i ...
and
Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (german: Berlin-Marathon, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , inclu ...
.''Lifestyle choices: A positive approach to healthy living – self-management, diet, exercise. ''(2005). Balcatta, W. A: R. I. C. Publications. Sauvage won the prestigious Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race ten times – 1993–1999 and 2001–2003.


Demonstration events

From 1993 to 2001, Sauvage won every
IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
wheelchair demonstration event at
IAAF World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...
. In that same period, she also won the demonstration events for wheelchair racing in the 800 meter race at the Olympic games. The 800 meter event does not require that athletes stay in their lanes after the first turn. For this reason, athletes like Sauvage are required to wear helmets when racing. In 2000, Sauvage won the Olympic demonstration event and was expected to win the Paralympic gold. She was upset by Canadian
Chantal Petitclerc Chantal Petitclerc (born December 15, 1969) is a Canadian wheelchair racer and a Senator from Quebec. Early life At the age of 13, Petitclerc lost the use of both legs in an accident when at a friend's farm, a heavy barn door fell on her, fra ...
. The Australian delegation appealed the result, claiming the race was not fair because another racer, Ireland's Patrice Dockery, was disqualified for leaving her lane too early. The appeal was rejected, because Dockery was too far behind the front runners to impact the results. Sport academics who research the Paralympic Games consider this protest to be pivotal, because it shows the passion of athletes to win and the extent that sports people will go to claim gold. It also highlighted that the rivalries in the sport were real. Petitclerc said of her rivalry with Sauvage that "I dream more about Louise than I do my boyfriend." In 2002, Petitclerc beat Sauvage again at the
2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...
, where the 800 meter event was a full medal event at the games for the first time. It was only the second time that Sauvage had lost to Petitclerc.


Training

Sauvage trained 10 to 14 hours a week when she was actively competing. Her training was very focused, and she attempted to make it fun to help her maintain interest. She often trained six days a week. Her training included boxing, swimming and racing between 25 and 35 km in a single session.
Frank Ponta Francis Ettore Ponta (8 November 1935 – 1 June 2011) was an Australian Paralympic competitor and coach. He competed in several sports including basketball, pentathlon, swimming and fencing. A paraplegic, he lost the use of both his legs aft ...
was one of Sauvage's first coaches. She was subsequently coached by Jenni Banks, who oversaw much of Sauvage's development as an elite wheelchair athlete, from her first international success at the World Games in Assen in 1990, to her best ever medal tally at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996.
Andrew Dawes Andrew Dawes (February 7, 1940 – October 30, 2022) was a Canadian violinist. He was known for his performances with the Orford String Quartet. Early life and education Dawes was born in High River, Alberta.Curtin Call: A Photographer's Candi ...
was her coach after the 1996 Paralympics.


Coaching career

After her retirement from competition, she became involved in coaching young wheelchair athletes, establishing a foundation to help support children with disabilities in 2001. In 2004, Sauvage started coaching other wheelchair athletes. The first athlete that she coached was
Angie Ballard Angela Ballard (born 6 June 1982) is an Australian Paralympic athlete who competes in T53 (classification), T53 wheelchair racing, wheelchair sprint events. She became a paraplegic at age 7 due to a car accident. She began competing in wheel ...
. Sauvage's coaching helped Ballard win gold 400 m and silver in the 100 m, 200 m, 800 m and 1500 m at the Summer Down Under Series in 2005. Sauvage has attended several international competitions as a coach. She was an athletics coach with the Australian team
2008 Beijing Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
and 2011
IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...
. She is currently Wheelchair Track & Road Elite Development Coach at the
New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high performance sports training institute located in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides world leading coaching, performance support and daily training ...
and coaches Madison de Rozario.


Retirement

During her retirement from being an athlete, Sauvage created a consulting company that she works for. In 2010, Sauvage was a speaker at the IPC Women in Sport Summit. She spoke alongside Amy Winters and Jayme Paris. In February 2011, Sauvage participated in the Charter Hall Malabar Magic Ocean Swim. The event was created to raise funds for Rainbow Club. It was Sauvage's first ocean swim. She finished the 1 km race in 25:19. In 2011, as part of the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project of the
National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
, Ian Jobling conducted an extensive interview with Sauvage.


Disability rights

Sauvage and Paul Nunnar lobbied Virgin Blue during 2006 to drop a requirement that people in wheelchairs be accompanied by a carer if they wish to ride on a Virgin Blue aircraft. Previously, both athletes had tried to lobby
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
to lift a limit of only two electric wheelchairs on domestic flights flying on
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
s. The pair were ineffective because the change would have required a change in law, not in airline policy. Sauvage and Nunnar did receive an invitation to help train Qantas staff and help make staff more aware of the needs of disabled people.


Recognition

Sauvage was the Australian Paralympian of the Year in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998. She was also 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 ...
(AIS) Athlete of the year in 1997 and in 2001 inducted into the AIS 'Best of the Best'. In 1998, she was a winner of the Australian of the Year Awards in the ABIGGRIUOP National Sports Award category. In 2000, Sauvage was named the Female Athlete of the Year in the Sport Australia Awards. In 2000, she was named the "World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability" at the first Laureus Sports Awards held in
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
. In 1999 and 2000, she was named the International Female Athlete of the Year. She 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 ...
in 2000. At the
2000 Summer 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 ...
in Sydney, Sauvage lit the cauldron during the opening ceremonies for the games. In 2004, Sauvage carried the Australian flag into the stadium at 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 ...
.FREYA, GRANT. "Louise will lead Paralympic team in opening ceremony – Sauvage to fly flag for Australia – Paralympics 2004 – 2 days to go". ''The Daily Telegraph'' (n.d.). In 2001, the
State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...
named a SuperCat ferry after Sauvage. The
Louise Sauvage Pathway Located alongside the suburb of Newington, New South Wales, and named in honour of Australian paralympic wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage, the Pathway is the longest continuous section of pathway in Sydney Olympic Park. As such, the pathway is ...
, a wheelchair-accessible bicycle and walking path within Sydney Olympic Park, is also named in her honour. Sauvage and New South Wales Treasurer Michael Egan christened the park on 6 March 2003.N.A. "NSW: Louise Sauvage helps Egan launch pathway". AAP General News (n.d.). She was inducted into the
Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...
in 2007. In 2009, we was awarded Legend status in the
New South Wales Hall of Champions The New South Wales Hall of Champions is a museum at Australia Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by State Sports Centre Trust (State Government). The museum's collection was added to the New South Wa ...
. In 2011, she was one of the first people to be inducted into the Australian Paralympian Hall of Fame, along with
Frank Ponta Francis Ettore Ponta (8 November 1935 – 1 June 2011) was an Australian Paralympic competitor and coach. He competed in several sports including basketball, pentathlon, swimming and fencing. A paraplegic, he lost the use of both his legs aft ...
and
George Bedbrook Sir George Montario Bedbrook, OBE (8 October 1921 – 6 October 1991) was an Australian medical doctor and surgeon, who was the driving force in creating the Australian Paralympic movement and the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games, and helped to f ...
. In 2012, she was inducted into the International
Paralympic Hall of Fame The Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which was established by the International Paralympic Committee. On 30 August 2012 five paralympic athletes were inducted into the fourth ''Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame'' in a ceremony in Lond ...
. In 2014, she was inducted into the
Athletics Australia Athletics Australia is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Sport Australia for the sport of athletics in Australia. First founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 registered ...
Hall of Fame and the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre Path of Champions. In November 2018, Sauvage was awarded Sport NSW Coach of the Year. Young Athlete of the Year with a Disability. In 2019, Sauvage was made a Legend in the
Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...
. She became the first Australian Paralympian to be awarded Legend status. Sauvage was awarded Paralympics Australia 2020 Coach of the Year. In November 2021, she was awarded New South Wales Institute of Sport Coach if the Year. Several Paralympians cite Sauvage as inspiring them to become athletes, including wheelchair racer
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 ...
.


References


External links

* *
Review
of ''My Story'' by Louise Sauvage


Louise Sauvage interviewed by Ian Jobling in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauvage, Louise Paralympic athletes of Australia Paralympic wheelchair racers Olympic wheelchair racers of Australia Australian female wheelchair racers 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 Wheelchair racers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Wheelchair racers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Wheelchair racers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 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 gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Paralympic athletics (track and field) coaches Paralympic coaches of Australia Coaches at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Laureus World Sports Awards winners Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic track and field athletes New South Wales Institute of Sport alumni 1973 births Living people Australian people of English descent Australian women's wheelchair basketball players Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics People with spina bifida Athletes from Perth, Western Australia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Australian people of Seychellois descent