Fabian John Blattman, OAM (born 28 December 1958) is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He became disabled after a motorbike accident. He started playing disabled bowls, before switching to athletics. As a Paralympic athletics competitor, he has set several world records and won two Paralympic gold medals.

Personal

Blattman was born on 28 December 1958 in the New South Wales town of

Narrandera Narrandera ( ) until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt highways, adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River, and ...

. He attended Springwood High School, leaving the school in 1975 to take up an apprenticeship. A 1978 motorcycle accident left him a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or t ...

. Following the accident, he spent eighteen months in rehabilitation at the Mt Wilga Rehabilitation Centre in Hornsby, New South Wales. After rehabilitation, Blattman moved into his parents' home in Springwood, New South Wales. The house was retrofitted with a

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobil ...

to enable him to reach his third floor bedroom. Blattman moved out of his parents' home, and independently travels around the world. He played

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

socially.

Sporting career

Bowls

In 1985, Blattman competed at the Royal North Shore Paraplegic Games in the bowls event.

Athletics

Blattman started participating in wheelchair athletics to improve his general fitness level. At the 1988 Seoul Games, he came fifth in the first heat of the Men's 200 m 1A – event. He competed in the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1989 and 1990. In 1990, at 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 ...

he won a gold medal in the men's 4x100 m relay T1 event and two bronze medals in the 100 m and 200 m T1 events. He won a silver medal in the 4×100 m event and a bronze medal in the 4×400 m event at the 1992 Summer Paralympics. At the 1996 Atlanta Games, he won a gold medal in the 1500 m event, 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 ...

, and a silver medal in the 800 m event. In 1998, Blattman won the Men's Marathon ( T51) event at the World Championships. At the 2000 Sydney Games, he won a gold medal in the men's 400 m T51 event, a silver medal in the men's 1500 m T51 event, and a bronze medal in the men's 800 m T51 event. That year, he 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 2002, Blattman came in first in the T51 Quads event at the Arrive Alive Summer Down Under Wheelchair Track and Road Racing Series 10k event, with a time of 37.52. He competed at the 2010 Optus Grand Prix in Canberra in the Men & Women 5,000 metres wheelchair event, but he did not finish. He won the Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race T51 event nine times, firstly in 1992 and then in each year from 1995 to 2002. Blattman has held several world records in athletics. These include: *1990: 4x100 and 4x400 m events at the 1990 Stoke Mandeville Games *1991: 1500 m *1995: 2:40.15 in the men's T51 800 m event in Etobicoke, Canada on 25 June *1998: 05:01.49 in the 1500 m and 16:51.81 in the 5000 m at the Summer Down Under international wheelchair track meeting at

Sydney International Athletic Centre Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre is a multi-use stadium in Sydney Olympic Park, Australia. The capacity of the stadium is 5,000 spectators. It also hosted the 1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics and served as the warm-up track for th ...

on 28 January *1999: 16:46.95 in the 5000 m at the Summer Down Under international wheelchair track meeting at Sydney International Athletic Centre on 29 January He had an

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 ...

scholarship from 1994 to 2000 in Athletics. His coach was

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 ...

, who has worked with Paralympic gold medalists

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 f ...

and Greg Smith.

References

External links

Fabian Blattman – Athletics Australia Results
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blattman, Fabian Paralympic athletes of Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Paralympics 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 Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia World record holders in Paralympic athletics Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Sportsmen from New South Wales People with paraplegia Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic track and field athletes 1958 births Living people Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Australian male wheelchair racers