Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race is held on Australia Day in The Rocks, Sydney and is marquee event on the international wheelchair racing calendar, attracting prominent international and Australian athletes.
The inaugural race was held in 1990 around Centennial Park in Sydney amongst traffic travelling around the Park. [1] The inaugural race was the brainchild of Peter Trotter and Jeff Wiseman, two prominent wheelchair racers that trained at the Park. [1] Trotter a former 10 km road racing champion had competed in similar events throughout the world. [2] Their philosophy in creating the event was for disabled children to see elite wheelchair athletes in competition. [1] Sixty five athletes including sixteen international and eighteen interstate athletes competed. Australian cricketer Mike Whitney started the race and New South Wales Premier Nick Greiner and record breaking aviator Gaby Kennard presented the winners prizes which included prize money. [2] Over one thousand spectators watched the event. [2]
The race was moved to the Sydney Rocks area in 1991 and consisted of two 5 km laps. [1] Over the years, the organisers have encountered difficulties as major city roads need to be closed. [1] The race in normally held early in the morning to overcome the difficulties of road closures.
The race is supported by the Australia Day Council and Sydney City Council and managed by Wheelchair Sports NSW. [1] It is now an iconic event in Sydney on Australia Day.
Prominent international and Australian athletes have competed in the event and prize money is awarded. At the completion of the 2024 event, Kurt Fearnley had won the race eleven times and Louise Sauvage and Madison de Rosario ten times. [3] [4]
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.
Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach.
Christie Dawes is an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racing athlete. She has won three medals in athletics at seven Paralympics from 1996 to 2021.
The Peachtree Road Race is an American 10-kilometer run held annually in Atlanta. After being held on Independence Day from 1970 to 2019, the race was cancelled temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic after originally being set for Thanksgiving. It is the world's largest 10k race, a title it has held since the late 1970s. The race has become a citywide tradition in which over 70,000 amateur and professional runners try to register for one of the limited 60,000 spots. The event also includes a wheelchair race, which precedes the footrace. In recent years, the race also has a special division for soldiers stationed in the Middle East. The race attracts some of the world's elite 10K runners and has served as both the United States' men's and women's 10K championship.
Madison de Rozario, is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair racer who specialises in middle and long-distance events. She competed at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals, three silver and a bronze. She has also won ten medals at the World Para Athletics Championships and four gold at the Commonwealth Games. De Rozario holds the world record in the Women's 800m T53 and formerly in the Women's 1500m T53/54.
{{Infobox sportsperson | name = Angie Ballard | image = XXXX15 - Angela Ballard - 3b - 2016 Team processing.jpg | headercolor = green | textcolor = yellow | caption = 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Ballard | full_name = Angela Ballard | nickname = Angie | sport = Paralympic athletics | nationality = Australian | club = [[ACT Academy of Sport|ACTAS] | collegeteam = The University of Sydney | birth_date = 6 June 1982 | birth_place = Canberra, Australian Capital Territory | death_date = | death_place = | height = 1.71 m | weight = 35–40 kilograms | medaltemplates= |- ! Track and field (athletics) |- ! Paralympic Games |- | | 2008 Beijing| 4x100 m T53/54 |- | | 2012 London| 200 m T53 |- | | 2012 London| 400 m T53 |- | | 2016 Rio de Janeiro| 4×400 m relay T53/54 |- | | 2004 Athens| 100 m T53 |- | | 2012 London| 100 m T53 |- | | 2016 Rio de Janeiro| 100 m T53 |- | | 2016 Rio de Janeiro| 400 m T53 |- ! IPC Athletics World Championships |- | | 1998 Birmingham| 4x100 m Relay |- | | 1998 Birmingham| 4x400 m Relay |- | | 2002 Lille| 100 m |- | | 2015 Doha| 200 m T53 |- | | 2015 Doha| 400 m T53 |- | | 2013 Lyon| 100 m T53 |- | | 2013 Lyon| 200 m T53 |- | | 2013 Lyon| 800 m T53 |- | | 2017 London| 100m T53 |- | | 2017 London| 200m T53 |- | | 2013 Lyon| 400 m T53 |- | | 2015 Doha| 800m T53 |- ! Commonwealth Games |- | | 2014 Glasgow| 1500 m T54 |- | | 2018 Gold Coast| 1500 m T54 |- | | 2022 Birmingham| 1500 m T53/54 }}
Peter Thomas Trotter was an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racer.
Richard Nicholson is an Australian Paralympic powerlifter and athlete. He has competed at five successive Paralympic Games from the 1996 to 2012 Summer Paralympics. At the 2000 Games, he won a silver medal in the powerlifting Men's Up to 60 kg event. In athletics, at the 2004 Athens Paralympics he won a silver medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m T53–54 event and at the 2012 London Paralympics a bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 m T53–54 event.
Fabian John Blattman, OAM 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.
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Wheelchair Sports NSW is the peak New South Wales sports organisation that assists people with disabilities ranging from spinal cord injury, spina bifida, amputation, paraplegia, quadriplegia to other similar disabling conditions. The organisation was established as the Paraplegic Sports Club, a section of the Paraplegic Association of NSW in October 1961. It offers a range of sports programs, facilities and financial support from beginners to Paralympians.
Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Australia repeated its 2012 Summer Paralympics achievement in finishing fifth of the medal tally.
Jeff Wiseman is an Australian Paralympic athlete who has competed at two Paralympics and is a wheelchair mechanic. He has played a significant role in the development of wheelchair sport in New South Wales.
Tomoki Suzuki is a Japanese wheelchair racer, who won the 2020 and 2024 Tokyo Marathons, came second at the 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023 Tokyo Marathons, and came third at the 2017 Tokyo, 2019 and 2023 London Marathons. Suzuki competed in multiple events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, and won a bronze medal in the mixed 4 × 100 metres relay.
Samuel "Sam" Rizzo is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He has been selected to compete at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.