Austin Smeenk

Started: He was introduced to athletics at age six at the Cruisers Sports club in Mississauga, ON, Canada. "I started out at the Cruisers doing Para ice hockey, and then track, and also picked up wheelchair basketball, and I did all three at once. And then I really started to excel at track and got focused in on that around 2012." (Islandstats YouTube channel, 04 Feb 2021; Athlete, 11 Nov 2019; erinoakkids.ca, 15 Jul 2011) Reason: Therapists encouraged his interest in athletics while he was receiving treatment at ErinoakKids in Ontario, Canada. The organisation provides rehabilitation and support services to children with impairments. "When I was a young boy, I just wanted to play sports, go fast and try new things, I really just didn't want to be left out of sports at all." (Islandstats YouTube channel, 04 Feb 2021; erinoakkids.ca, 15 Jul 2011) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Instagram profile, 31 May 2023) Awards: In 2014 he was presented with the Outstanding Male Track Events Performance of the Year Award by Athletics Ontario in Canada. (athleticsontario.ca, 01 Oct 2014) Additional Info: DIFFERENT DISTANCES He initially specialised in middle-distance events but later began to focus more on shorter distances. "I'm competing currently [speaking in 2021] in the 100m and 800m. I also like to throw in the 200m and 400m, 1500m if we can, depending on what level of competition we're at. I consider myself a middle-distance guy who figured out his starts. The one thing at every race that you have to do is start. So the 100m was always kind of on the side to my middle-distance preparations. But once I'd figured out the explosive aspect that we worked on in the transitions so much with Lisa [Myers, coach], we were really able to make up some ground there and find my place to be in the sprints as well." (Islandstats YouTube channel, 04 Feb 2021) LONDON DECISION Despite qualifying for the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, he decided not to compete at the event. Having discussed his options with his parents and his coach, the late Ken Thom, he came to the conclusion that it would be too soon for him to compete at the highest level given his young age, especially as he was using a borrowed wheelchair at the time. He went on to compete at the 2016 and 2020 editions of the Paralympic Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 Oct 2023; msn.com, 19 Jul 2012; insidehalton.com, 18 Jul 2012; paralympic.ca, 01 Jan 2018)