Sam Harding

Started: He used to compete in Para athletics and represented Australia in the sport at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. He took up Para triathlon in October 2021. (thewest.com.au, 11 May 2022) Reason: He was encouraged to switch from athletics to triathlon by sports physiologist Avish Sharma and Paralympic triathlete Jono Goerlach. "Avish knew I'd been [taking] swimming lessons and he knew I had some experience in cycling when I was in school. He said, 'Look, next year, there's triathlon at the [2022] Commonwealth Games [in Birmingham, England], it could be something you could be really good at', and these weird, intertwining circumstances ended up leading me to take on the challenge." (thewest.com.au, 11 May 2022) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Instagram profile, 16 Jul 2023) Awards: He was named Athlete of the Year Para Sport for 2022 at the CBR Sport Awards. (cmtedd.act.gov.au, 27 Aug 2023) Additional Info: ATHLETICS TO TRIATHLON He took up Para triathlon in October 2021 having competed in athletics at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo just a few weeks earlier. "Cycling is probably my weakest at the moment [speaking in 2022], it's the sport I've been most removed from. I'm just slowly increasing it month by month, seeing where everything lies and what I can manage. Swimming is probably the most technical, so I'm giving quite a lot of time to it every day, sometimes twice a day. With the running, I've cut back from doing around 120 kilometres a week to 80-90 kilometres, just doing the key sessions and that's been really good for my body, it's probably the least sore it's been for quite a while." (thewest.com.au, 11 May 2022)