Sarah Walsh

Started: She began competing in Para athletics at age nine through her school. "I was in Year 3 at school and the teachers told me I was going to the zone athletics carnival. At this time I could barely run 100m never mind 200m and had no idea how to do long jump, it was just because I was a Para athlete that I automatically qualified. Once athletics became a little more serious for me I joined Helensburgh Little Athletics Club [in Australia]." (athletics.com.au, 06 Jun 2023; Athlete, 06 Nov 2019, 23 Oct 2015) Reason: "A school teacher encouraged me to take up athletics and I absolutely fell in love with it, the rest is history." (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019) Ambition: To win a medal in long jump at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (abc.net.au, 30 Nov 2023) Additional Info: OTHER ACTIVITIES She has designed t-shirts to raise awareness around limb differences and limb loss for Limbs 4 Life, an Australian non-profit organisation. In 2019 she became an ambassador for Lifeline Canberra, a charity that focuses on mental health and suicide prevention. "Whilst I like to help break down the stigma around disability and Paralympic sport, there is also a stigma around mental health and reaching out and asking for help when you really do need to. And so it was so important to me to join an organisation that wanted to help break down more barriers in our community." (Jackie Tann YouTube channel, 14 Aug 2022; nswathletics.org.au, 30 Aug 2021; catholicweekly.com.au, 18 Mar 2020; lifeforexcellence.com, 01 Jan 2017; Living Intentionally for Excellence YouTube channel, 31 Jul 2016) HERITAGE Both of her parents were born in Ireland. (tipperarylive.ie, 01 Feb 2022; paralympic.org.au, 01 Jan 2016)