Danielle Aitchison

Started: She began competing in Para athletics at age 16 in 2017, at the Halberg Junior Disability Games in New Zealand. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019) Reason: She comes from an enthusiastic sporting family that always supported her to do physical activities. "I did ballet and played netball and hockey. I also tried athletics, where I sprinted alongside the able-bodied kids at the Te Aroha club [New Zealand]. I played hockey for the school team and I enjoyed it but I found playing a team sport tough because of my lack of hearing." In 2017 she took part in badminton, swimming, triathlon and athletics at the Halberg Junior Disability Games in Auckland, New Zealand, and after realising she had a talent in athletics, she went on to compete at other events and began training for international competitions. "At the Halberg Disability Games I took part in athletics and afterwards a coach came up to me and said I had talent and should pursue it." (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019; athletics.org.nz, 06 Jun 2019; stuff.co.nz, 05 Feb 2018) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (athletics.org.nz, 16 Jul 2023; hpsnz.org.nz, 14 Dec 2023) Milestones: She was New Zealand's youngest medallist in any sport at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, having claimed silver in the women's T36 200m event at age 20 years and 13 days. (SportsDeskOnline, 21 Jul 2024) Awards: In 2022 she was named Sportswoman of the Year at the University of Waikato Blues Awards in New Zealand. (The University of Waikato Facebook page, 18 Oct 2022) In 2018 she was named Best Female Para Athlete at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Athletic Association [NZSSAA] track, road and field championships. (NZ Paralympic Team Twitter profile, 05 Dec 2018)