Emily Petricola

Started: She took part in her first Para cycling race in 2015 in Ballarat, VIC, Australia. (vis.org.au, 30 May 2023; Instagram profile, 24 Oct 2018) Reason: She was encouraged to get into the sport by Australian Olympic rower Matt Ryan, who was also her colleague at work. "I told him my issues and how desperately I wanted to get back into exercise and he came up with a plan. We put a stationary bike in the office with the A/C [air conditioning] on and a fan in my face and started small. After about six months, I was going through a really hard personal time and he said, 'You need something positive to focus on, I think you should try to make the Tokyo Paralympics team. If you work half as hard at that as you do this job, no one will get near you'. Matt knew that the woman who won the cycling time trial at the previous Paralympics had MS [multiple sclerosis] and when I saw that I went off to see if I could get classified." (vis.org.au, 30 May 2023; athletesvoice.com.au, 01 Nov 2019) Awards: She won the Para Athlete Award at the 2023 Victorian Institute of Sport [VIS] Award of Excellence in Australia. (commonwealthgames.com.au, 27 Nov 2023) She was named Female Para Athlete of the Year at the 2022 Australian Institute of Sport [AIS] Sport Performance Awards. (Australian Institute of Sport Facebook page, 16 Dec 2022) She was named Female Para Track Cyclist of the Year for 2022 by Australia Cycling. (theinnersanctum.com.au, 19 Dec 2022; Instagram profile, 14 Dec 2022) In 2022 she was presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia [OAM]. (nswis.com.au, 27 Jan 2022) Additional Info: LIFE CHANGER She had difficulty with the physical effects of her multiple sclerosis before meeting Australian Olympic rower Matt Ryan and Australian Olympic cyclist Shane Kelly. Ryan was one of her work colleagues, while Kelly is married to one of her friends. "I asked [Shane] if he'd help coach me. He didn't really have a choice but, in any case, he said, 'Yeah, absolutely'. From that moment, we started on this path. I would never have thought that my body was capable of doing anything near what it's currently doing, the training for Paras is as demanding and strenuous as it is for the non-Para riders, just managed differently depending on the impairment. But both Matt and Shane believed it possible for me. Whenever there was a MS [multiple sclerosis] roadblock, they would find a way around it. It's no exaggeration to say that Matt and Shane saved my life. I say that because I was in such a bad place and their belief in me is the only reason that I'm doing what I'm doing today. Having something positive to focus on in that moment in my life kept me moving forward." (vis.org.au, 30 May 2023; athletesvoice.com.au, 01 Nov 2019) OCCUPATION She has worked as a junior rowing programme co-ordinator at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak in Australia. (LinkedIn profile, 07 Dec 2023; paralympic.org.au, 20 Apr 2023; theinnersanctum.com.au, 19 Dec 2022) FURTHER EDUCATION She has studied for a master's degree in secondary teaching at the University of New England in Armidale, NSW, Australia. (LinkedIn profile, 07 Dec 2023; Facebook profile, 28 Dec 2017)