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When one sport just isn't enough: Australia's code-hopping Paralympians

Dylan Alcott has made the switch from wheelchair basketball to tennis. Image: LauraHale (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Roar Rookie
6th September, 2016
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With the 2016 Rio Olympics done and dusted, all eyes are now on our Australian athletes competing at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, and it is now their time to shine.

A surprising factor heading into these Paralympic Games is the number of athletes who have transferred sports after winning medals in previous games.

In the early Paralympics, athletes were required to compete in several different events across different sports to even be considered to represent Australia. Since the late 1980s, athletes have only been selected in one sport at any given Games due to the increasing level of competition at the Paralympics, but that obviously hasn’t stopped our Paralympians from seeking new challenges by changing sports.

The introduction of para-rowing, para-canoeing and para-triathlon at the 2016 Games has expanded options for many of these athletes.

Here are some of the athletes to have switched sports.

Kieran Modra
Modra previously competed in athletics at the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul before suiting up for the swimming and athletics at the 1992 Games in Barcelona where he won two medals in swimming. In 1996 though, he switched to cycling where, between 1996 to 2012, he won a total of eight medals, including six gold and two bronze. He has now been selected as one of Australia’s cyclists for Rio.

Jessica Gallagher
Gallagher has a vast range of experiences coming into this year’s Games. She had previously won two bronze medals for skiing at the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. She competed in athletics at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and has now been selected for Rio as a cyclist – and a current world champion at that. If she wins a medal at Rio she will become the first Australian athlete to medal at both the Summer and Winter Games.

Liesl Tesch
Tesch has won two silver and one bronze medal as a member of the Gliders, the Australian women’s wheelchair basketball team, between 1996 to 2008. Tesch took up sailing in 2010 and teamed up with Daniel Fitzgibbon to win the gold medal at the mixed two-person scud at the 2012 London Games. The two will team up again in Rio.

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Erik Horrie
Initially a wheelchair basketballer, Horrie didn’t make the 2008 Beijing team so changed his sights to rowing instead, the sport in which he won a silver medal for in 2012. He has once again been selected to Australia’s rowing team for Rio this year.

Brock Ingram
After Ingram’s para-canoe event was not put on the Rio Paralympics program, he decided to transfer to rowing. He has recently been selected as part of the legs, trunk and arms mixed coxed four team for Rio.

Libby Kosmala
Kosmala will be at her twelfth Games after first competing in swimming and athletics at the 1972 Heidelberg Games. She then went to the 1976 Toronto Games to compete in shooting, archery and dartchery, winning a gold medal in shooting. She will be hoping to win another gold medal when she represents the Australia in shooting at Rio.

Susan Seipel
Seipel was a leading para-equestrian rider before transferring to para-canoe in 2012. Seipel indicated that she left equestrian due to its expensive nature. She has won medals at the last two World Championships.

Daniela di Toro
Di Toro represented Australia in wheelchair tennis at the Paralympics between 1996 and 2012, winning silver at the 2000 Games and bronze in 2004. She will be making the transfer to table tennis at the Rio Games and is one of the team captains alongside Kurt Fearley.

Dylan Alcott
Alcott had plenty of success in wheelchair basketball, winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Games and silver in 2012. Alcott switched to wheelchair tennis in 2014 and now is one of the favourites in the quad tennis event at this year’s Games.

Kate Doughty
Doughty was a successful equestrian rider before she transferred to compete in triathlons. She then went on to win a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships and will no doubt be hoping to do better at Rio.

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Claire Mclean
McLean won a silver medal in cycling at the 2004 Athens Games, but now will be competing in the para-triathlon when it makes its debut at the upcoming Rio Games.

Amanda Reid
Reid has also made a significant sporting transfer. She competed at the 2012 London Games in swimming but now will be competing at Rio in track cycling. She won a silver medal at the 2016 World Championships.

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