The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's 66-hectare (163-acre) headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), part of the Australian Government under the Department of Health and Aged Care.
Kurt Harry Fearnley, is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development of certain parts of his lower spine and all of his sacrum. In Paralympic events he is classified in the T54 classification. He focuses on long and middle-distance wheelchair races, and has also won medals in sprint relays. He participated in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing his Paralympic Games career with thirteen medals. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
Eliza Stankovic-Mowle is an Australian wheelchair racer, who competed at Paralympic and Olympic Games. She survived meningococcal disease and plays a major role in improving the Australian community's awareness of the disease.
Oenone Wood is a retired professional cyclist, who commenced her cycling career in 2001 at the age of 21. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.
Australia has competed in every Winter Paralympics. In 1976, the first Games, Australia's sole competitor was Ron Finneran, but he was not an official entrant. In 1980, Kyrra Grunnsund and Peter Rickards became the first official competitors, in alpine and cross-country skiing. The number of Australian athletes increased to three, five, five and six at the next four games, respectively, and all of the athletes were alpine skiers. The participation decreased to four in 1998 and climbed back up to six in 2002. Australia won its first Winter Paralympic medals in 1992, and has medalled at every games since then. All of the medals have been won in alpine skiing.
Evan George O'Hanlon, is an Australian Paralympic athlete, who competes mainly in category T38 sprint events. He has won five gold medals at two Paralympic Games – 2008 Beijing and 2012 London. He also represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, winning a silver medal and a bronze medal respectively. In winning the bronze medal in the Men's 100m T38 at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, O'Hanlon became Australia's most successful male athlete with a disability. His bronze medal took him to 12 medals in five world championships – one more than four-time Paralympian Neil Fuller.
Elizabeth "Lisa" McIntosh, OAM is an Australian Paralympian athlete with cerebral palsy, who competes mainly in sprint events.
Richard David Telford AM is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood and Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1960s, although he mainly played reserves. He went on to become as a leading Australian sport scientist and distance running coach. He was the first sport scientist employed by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian teams that participate at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics.
Hamish Anderson MacDonald, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He was born in Melbourne and lives in Canberra. He has cerebral palsy. His achievements and advocacy have made him one of Australia's most respected Paralympians.
Katrina Cecchini is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She was born in Canberra with mild cerebral palsy due to being born ten weeks premature. She started swimming at the suggestion of a neighbour. She attended St Mary MacKillop College, Canberra, graduating in 2006.
Christopher John Nunn, OAM is an Australian athletics coach. He was the head coach of the Australian athletics team at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.
Damien Bowen is an Australian seated shot putter and seated javelin thrower. He represented Australia in athletics at the 2012 Summer Paralympics but did not medal.
Kelly Cartwright is an Australian athlete and powerlifter. She won two medals at the London 2012 Paralympics, and represented Australia in the Beijing 2008 Paralympics.
Jodi Elkington-Jones is Australian athlete who has cerebral palsy. She represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and has also competed in two Commonwealth Games, winning gold in the 2014 Games in the F37/38 long jump. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.
Sam Harding is an Australian Paralympic athlete and paratriathlete. His classification is T12 and competed in 400m and the 800m events. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2020 Summer Paralympics in athletics and has been selected to compete in paratriathlon at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
The organisation of sport in Australia has been largely determined by its Federal system of government – Australian Government and six states and two territories governments and local governments. All three levels play an important role in terms of funding, policies and facilities. Each major sport is managed by a national sports organisation, with state counterparts that manage community sporting clubs. Umbrella or peak organisations represent the interests of sports organisations or particular sport issues. Education sector plays a small role through universities and schools. Private sector's involvement is extensive in professional sport through facilities, club ownership and finance/sponsorship.
Jayden Sawyer is an Australian para athlete who competes mainly in the F38 category in throwing events. He won has won gold and bronze medals at the World Para Athletics Championships. He competed at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics.
James Michael Apsley Turner, is an Australian Paralympic athlete and soccer player with cerebral palsy. He has represented Australia as part of the Australia Paralympic soccer team, the ParaRoos, and was its player of the year in 2013. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won the Men's 800m T36 in a world record time of 2:02.39. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2020 Toyko Paralympics. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, he won two gold medals including a world record in the 400m T36.
Alex Saffy is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships and a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics..
