141100 - Athletics track Neil Fuller Australian flag - 3b - 2000 Sydney race photo

Neil Robert Fuller, OAM (born 2 August 1969 in Shoreham by Sea, 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 impaire ...

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 The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

and

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...

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 pu ...

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 (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 ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

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 he won a gold medal, for which he received 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 ...

, 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 Internatio ...

, 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 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 ...

, 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 '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