Angie Ballard
Encyclopedia
Angela Ballard is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor, who competes in T53 Sprint events. She won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
and a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
.
and swimming
. Wheelchair athletics was the sport she liked best. She attended Lyneham Primary School
in ACT
. In 1999, she was a secondary school student living with her family in Bungendore, New South Wales
. On 15 September 2000, she earned an open drivers license and she can legally drive a car. In 2001, she moved to Sydney to attend university. , she lives in Liberty Grove, New South Wales
and was attending the University of Sydney
to try to earn a Bachelor of Psychology. She has two cats, Monkee and Jaguar, and a dog named Angel. Her heroes are Rob Gorringe and Louise Sauvage
.
athlete
competing mainly in category T53 Sprint events. Compared to T54 athletes, she has less usage of her abdominal muscles, which means she cannot raise herself as much in her wheelchair to get a better angle to propel herself forward. She first competed in athletics in 1994, at the age of twelve. Her first wheelchair for racing was a second hand one. By 1997, she started taking her sport more seriously and she was setting Australian athletics in her classification. A year later she was representing her country on the international stage. By 2000, she held national records in the T53 100m and 200m events. She was an athletics scholarship holder at the Australian Institute of Sport
. Early in her athletics career, Ballard and Louise Sauvage
had the same coach and on occasion, the two would train together. After Sauvage retired from competitive wheelchair athletics following the 2004 Games, she became Ballard's coach.
In August 1998, Ballard competed at the International Paralympic Committee World Championships in Birmingham, England, where she was part of the gold medal winning Australian women's 4 x100m and 4x400m relay teams. In 1999, she competed at Australia's Junior Wheelchair Nationals. She won earned five gold medals at those games and was honoured by being named the event's Female Athlete of the Games. In 1999, she also competed at the 1999 Oz Day competition, where she finished second. She was a 2000 Motor Accidents Authority Paralympian. In preparation for the 2004 games, trained six days a week. Her training included going to Centennial Park and training on the hills there. It also included track work twice a week and doing weight training at least three times a week. Having competed in Sydney
, Australia
in the 2000 Summer Paralympics
in the T53 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and the T54 marathon without winning any medals, she travelled to Athens
, Greece
for the 2004 Summer Paralympics
competing in the T54 200m, T53 400m and T53 800m without winning any medals but did pick up a bronze in the T53 100m. She then travelled with the Australian team to Beijing
, China
for the 2008 Summer Paralympics
where she again failed to medal in the T53 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m but along with her team mates achieved her best paralympic result in picking up a silver medal in the T53/54 4x100m relay. Her goal for the 2008 Games was not to medal but to set a personal best. At the 2008 Games, she finished fifth in the women's T53 100m event, seventh the women's T53 in the 200m event, seventh women's T53 in the 400m event, and sixth in the women's 800m event. , she was training to qualify for the 2012 Summer Paralympics
.
2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....
and a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
2004 Summer Paralympics
The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...
.
Personal
Ballard was born on 6 June 1982 in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. She is a paraplegic as a result of an auto accident in 1989 when she was seven years old. Following the accident, she was in hospital and rehabilitation for three months. Her physical education teacher was one of the people who first encouraged her to participate in wheelchair sports. Sports she tried after her accident included wheelchair basketballWheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee as the sole...
and swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
. Wheelchair athletics was the sport she liked best. She attended Lyneham Primary School
Lyneham Primary School
Lyneham Primary School is a primary school in Canberra founded in 1959. Located in the suburb of Lyneham, it has over three hundred and forty students. The school is known for its performing arts programs, offering two school bands, one audition choir, two non-audition choirs and dance...
in ACT
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...
. In 1999, she was a secondary school student living with her family in Bungendore, New South Wales
Bungendore, New South Wales
Bungendore is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Council. It is on the Kings Highway near Lake George, the Molonglo River Valley and the Australian Capital Territory border. It has become a major tourist centre in recent years, popular with visitors from...
. On 15 September 2000, she earned an open drivers license and she can legally drive a car. In 2001, she moved to Sydney to attend university. , she lives in Liberty Grove, New South Wales
Liberty Grove, New South Wales
Liberty Grove is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.Liberty Grove is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay....
and was attending the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
to try to earn a Bachelor of Psychology. She has two cats, Monkee and Jaguar, and a dog named Angel. Her heroes are Rob Gorringe and Louise Sauvage
Louise Sauvage
Alix Louise Sauvage OAM is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer.Sauvage is often regarded as the most renowned disabled sportswoman in Australia. She won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic games in front of a home crowd...
.
Athletics
Ballard is a ParalympianParalympian
A Paralympian is an athlete who has participated in the Paralympic Games.A Paralympic athlete has a physical disability. The disability can be amputation, spinal cord injuries, visual impairment or cerebral palsy. An exception is the sighted guides for athletes with a visual impairment...
athlete
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
competing mainly in category T53 Sprint events. Compared to T54 athletes, she has less usage of her abdominal muscles, which means she cannot raise herself as much in her wheelchair to get a better angle to propel herself forward. She first competed in athletics in 1994, at the age of twelve. Her first wheelchair for racing was a second hand one. By 1997, she started taking her sport more seriously and she was setting Australian athletics in her classification. A year later she was representing her country on the international stage. By 2000, she held national records in the T53 100m and 200m events. She was an athletics scholarship holder at the Australian Institute of Sport
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport is a sports training institution in Australia with world class facilities and support services. The Institute's headquarters is situated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The 66.0 hectare site campus is in the northern suburb of Bruce, but some of the...
. Early in her athletics career, Ballard and Louise Sauvage
Louise Sauvage
Alix Louise Sauvage OAM is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer.Sauvage is often regarded as the most renowned disabled sportswoman in Australia. She won two gold medals and a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic games in front of a home crowd...
had the same coach and on occasion, the two would train together. After Sauvage retired from competitive wheelchair athletics following the 2004 Games, she became Ballard's coach.
In August 1998, Ballard competed at the International Paralympic Committee World Championships in Birmingham, England, where she was part of the gold medal winning Australian women's 4 x100m and 4x400m relay teams. In 1999, she competed at Australia's Junior Wheelchair Nationals. She won earned five gold medals at those games and was honoured by being named the event's Female Athlete of the Games. In 1999, she also competed at the 1999 Oz Day competition, where she finished second. She was a 2000 Motor Accidents Authority Paralympian. In preparation for the 2004 games, trained six days a week. Her training included going to Centennial Park and training on the hills there. It also included track work twice a week and doing weight training at least three times a week. Having competed in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the 2000 Summer Paralympics
2000 Summer Paralympics
The 2000 Paralympic Games were held in Sydney, Australia, from 18 October to 29 October. The eleventh Summer Paralympic Games, an estimated 3800 athletes took part in the Sydney programme. They commenced with the opening ceremony on 18 October 2000...
in the T53 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and the T54 marathon without winning any medals, she travelled to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
for the 2004 Summer Paralympics
2004 Summer Paralympics
The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...
competing in the T54 200m, T53 400m and T53 800m without winning any medals but did pick up a bronze in the T53 100m. She then travelled with the Australian team to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
for the 2008 Summer Paralympics
2008 Summer Paralympics
The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....
where she again failed to medal in the T53 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m but along with her team mates achieved her best paralympic result in picking up a silver medal in the T53/54 4x100m relay. Her goal for the 2008 Games was not to medal but to set a personal best. At the 2008 Games, she finished fifth in the women's T53 100m event, seventh the women's T53 in the 200m event, seventh women's T53 in the 400m event, and sixth in the women's 800m event. , she was training to qualify for the 2012 Summer Paralympics
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympic Games will be the fourteenth Paralympics and will take place between 29 August and 9 September 2012. The Games will be held in London, United Kingdom after the city was successful with its bid for the Paralympics and Summer Olympic Games.Even though 2012 will be London's...
.
External links
- Angie Ballard: Australian Paralympic CommitteeAustralian Paralympic CommitteeThe Australian Paralympic Committee is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the means by which Australia participates at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics.-History:...