Samuel Rizzo

Started: He took up wheelchair racing in 2012. (The Road Damascus College, spring 2018) Reason: "From an eight-year-old listening to the great Richard Colman speak at a spina bifida camp, l began wishing that one day, I might have the opportunity to wear the green and gold for Australia and bring home a gold medal from the Paralympics. After another four years of trying different sports such as swimming and wheelchair basketball, which I didn't really enjoy, I knew it wasn't where I belonged. In 2012 we got a phone call from Colman's mother, asking if I wanted to come and give a racing chair a shot, I jumped on the opportunity and the rest is history. Para athletics has not only made me healthy, it's given me self-confidence; it's allowed me to learn and to see some really amazing things that otherwise, I never would have had the opportunity to experience." (timesnewsgroup.com.au, 02 Aug 2019; The Road Damascus College, spring 2018) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (thecourier.com.au, 19 Jul 2024)