WA para-athletes given boost by new high-performance Institute

ABC NEWS (Australia)

WA para-athletes aiming to compete in the Brisbane Olympics have been given a boost with the opening of a dedicated high-performance unit at the WA Institute of Sport. The multi-million-dollar investment is part of a national campaign to grow para-participation and reverse a downward trend in performance.

Transcript

00:00The Paris Games were full of individual triumphs for Australian para-athletes, but from a team

00:07perspective the results maintained a trend that troubles the nation's para-sport bodies.

00:12It's probably our, you know, to put it down, but one of our poorer performances.

00:18The disappointing result has been a call to action in the lead up to the 2032 Brisbane

00:23Games.

00:24Australians love the Paralympic community, so we don't need any more pressure than saying

00:28we're going to do better and we're committed to doing better in this country.

00:31Australia's haul of 18 golds from 63 medals was the lowest since the 1980 Games, where

00:37a team of just 57 competitors brought home 55 medals.

00:41And a far cry from the glory days of Sydney 2000, where Australia claimed 63 gold medals

00:46in its overall medal tally of 149.

00:50It's hoped a new high-performance para unit at the WA Institute of Sport will help reverse

00:54that decline.

00:56Founded by the AIS and the WA Government, the unit will provide high-level support and

01:00coaching for up to 40 athletes each year.

01:03To come in and actually get some specialist coaching to feel valued, to feel part of something

01:08bigger and, you know, in a centre of excellence and drive forward.

01:12The Perth unit, one of five already launched across the country in 2025 as the AIS looks to

01:18rebuild para-athletics through its $55 million para-uplift initiative.

01:22It had dropped off the radar a little bit across governments and across sports institutes,

01:27so I see it as a very positive thing to kind of forge a new future.

01:31Exploring who's out there and have you ever thought about such and such a sport and even

01:36if you don't end up being a Paralympian, imagine what sport can do for you.

01:40The unit is expected to be fully staffed and operational by late July.

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