Australia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Australia at the Paralympic Games

Flag of Australia
IPC code  AUS
NPC Australian Paralympic Committee
At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in
Competitors 18 in 2 sports
Medals Gold
0		 Silver
0		 Bronze
0		 Total
0
Paralympic history (summary)
Summer Games
Winter Games

Australia is scheduled to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for six athletes in sailing events.

Administration

In May 2015, the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) announced Kate McLoughlin as the Chef de Mission. She replaced Jason Hellwig, the former APC CEO, who stepped down from the role.[1] The APC appointed Kurt Fearnley and Daniela Di Toro as team captains. 2004 Athens Games was the last time the team had captains. [2]

Fundraising

The APC stated that it needed to raise $7 million to fund its Rio 2016 campaign. The majority of APC's funding to send Australian teams to major events originates from fundraising. In January 2016, it launched the Australian Paralympic Foundation to manage its fundraising. Cadbury made the first major donation of $1 million.[3]

Disability classifications

Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[4][5] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability.[6]

Events

Archery

Jonathon Milne earned Australia a spot at the Rio Games following his performance at the 2015 World Archery Para Championships. He qualified the country after making the round of 16 in the Compound men’s open.[7]

Athletics

Boccia

Cycling

Equestrian

Goalball

Australian women's team failed to qualify after finishing third at the IBSA Goalball Asia Pacific Championships in Hangzhou, China.[8] Australian men's team failed to qualify after finishing fifth at the IBSA Goalball Asia Pacific Championships in Hangzhou, China. [9]

Paracanoe

At the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, three boats qualified: Women's KL2 (Susan Seipel), Women's LK3 (Amanda Reynolds) and Men's KL2 (Curtis McGrath). Additional qualification places still available.

Paratriathlon

Australia qualified for two events at 2015 ITU World Championships  : Men's PT1 (Bill Chaffey) and Women's PT5 (Katie Kelly). Additional qualifications available in 2016.[10]

Rowing

At the 2015 World Rowing Championships, Australia qualified two boats: ASM1X (Erik Horrie) and TA2X (Kathryn Ross/Gavin Bellis).[11] Further qualifications available.

Sailing

Australia qualified a boat for all three sailing classes at the Games through their results at the 2014 Disabled Sailing World Championships held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Places were earned in the solo 2.4mR event (Matthew Bugg), the two-person SKUD 18-class (Leisl Tesch/Daniel Fitzgibbon) and a crew also qualified for the three-person Sonar class (Colin Harrison, Jonathon Harris and Russell Boaden.).[12]

Shooting

The first opportunity to qualify for shooting at the Rio Games took place at the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl. Shooters earned spots for their NPC. Australia earned a qualifying spot at this competition in the R5 – 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH2 event as a result of the performance of Jason Maroney. Ashley Adams earned a second spot for Australia in the R6 – 50m Rifle Prone Mixed SH1 event.[13][14][15]

The country sent shooters to 2015 IPC IPC Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, where Rio direct qualification was also available. They earned a qualifying spot at this event based on the performance of Elizabeth Kosmala in the R2 – 10m Air Rifle Standing Women SH1 event. They earned a second spot at this event based on the performance of Anton Lee Zappelli in R3 – 10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed SH1 event. Their third spot qualified for at this competition was earned by Luke Cain in the R4 – 10m Air Rifle Standing Mixed SH2 event. Natalie Smith gave Australia their fourth spot after her finish in the R8 – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women SH1 event. Smith set a pair of Oceania records in the process of qualifying.[14][16]


The third opportunity for direct qualification for shooters to the Rio Paralympics took place at the 2015 IPC IPC Shooting World Cup in Sydney, Australia. At this competition, Bradley Mark earned a qualifying spot for their country in the R4- Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 event.[14][17]

Swimming

The top two finishers in each Rio medal event at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships earned a qualifying spot for their country for Rio. Brenden Hall earned Australia a spot after winning gold in the Men's 100m Backstroke. Matthew Levy earned Australia another spot after winning silver in the Men's 100m Freestyle S7. Ellie Cole's gold medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9 gave Australia its second spot.[18][19]

Wheelchair basketball

Men's tournament

The Rollers qualified by winning the 2015 Asia Oceania Qualifying Tournament.[20]

Women's tournament

The Gliders did not qualified after finishing second to China at the 2015 Asia Oceania Qualifying Tournament.[20]

Wheelchair rugby

Australia won the 2014 World Wheelchair Rugby Championships, thereby automatically qualifying to defend the Paralympic title they won in London.[21][22]

Wheelchair tennis

References

  1. ↑ "McLoughlin appointed as the 2016 Australian Paralympic Chef de Mission". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 13 May 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Fearnley and Di Toro to captain 2016 team". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. ↑ "1million donation from CADBURY kicks off launch of Australian Paralympic Foundation". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 20 January 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "A-Z of Paralympic classification". BBC Sport. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "DONAUESCHINGEN AWARDS 82 RIO 2016 PARALYMPIC QUOTA PLACES". World Archery Federation. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "Curtain draw on Rio 2016 as Australian Belles claim bronze". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 13 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "China and Japan Take Top Honors as the 2015 IBSA Goalball Asia/Pacific Championships Come to a Close". International Blind Sports Federation. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Aussie Para Teams Gold Rush". Triathlon Australia. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "2016 Olympic and Paralympic Qualification by Event" (PDF). World Rowing. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Ten countries guarantee their place in the Rio 2016 Paralympic sailing competition". Rio 2016 Official Website. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  13. ↑ "Shooters from 28 countries claim 63 spots at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games". Rio 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 "Shooting Qualification" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "Official Results Book" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "2015 IPC IPC Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia Official Results Book" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  17. ↑ "2015 IPC IPC Shooting World Cup in Sydney, Australia Official Results Book" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "Swimming QUALIFICATION" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  19. ↑ "Daily Medallists". International Paralympic Committee. July 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  20. 1 2 "Heartbreak and Elation for Gliders and Rollers at AOZ qualifying tournament". Basketball Australia. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  21. ↑ "Australia wins Wheelchair Rugby World Championship to guarantee a place at the Rio 2016 Games". 11 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  22. ↑ "USA, Canada and Mexico win places at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games via Parapan American Games". Rio 2016. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.


External links

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