 Colman showing the silver medal he won in the 400 m at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 28 November 1984 (age 38) Stavanger, Norway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richard Andrew Colman AM (born 28 November 1984 in Stavanger, Norway) [1] is an Australian Paralympic athlete, competing mainly in category T53 sprint events. He was born with spina bifida. [1] He represented Australia at the four Paralympics - 2004 to 2016. [2]
Colman competed at the 2004 Athens Paralympics, where he won a gold medal in the men's 800 m – T53 event, [3] for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia, [4] a silver medal in the men's 4 x 100 m relay – T53–54 event, [3] went out in the first round of the men's 100 m – T53 event, [5] finished seventh in the men's 200 m – T53 event, [6] finished sixth in the men's 400 m – T53 event, [7] went out in the first round of the men's 4 x 400 m relay – T53-54 event. [8]
He also competed at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, where he won a silver medal in the men's 200 m – T53 event, [3] a bronze medal in the men's 400 m – T53 event, [3] was disqualified in the men's 4 x 100 m relay – T53-54 event [9] and finished fourth in the men's 800 m – T53 event. [10]
At the 2012 London Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the Men's 800 m T53 event and two bronze medals in the Men's 400 m T53 and Men's 4x400 m T53/54 events;, [3] he also came seventh in the Men's 200 m T53- event. [11]
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he finished 12th ranked in Men's 400 m T53 heats and 8th in the Men's 800 m T53 heats and did not advance to the finals. [12]
Colman won a silver medal in the 1500 m T54 at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and came fourth in the same event at the 2014 competition. [13] [14]
Colman has competed at four IPC Athletics World Championships. In 2002, he won a bronze medal in the Men's 400 m T53. In 2006, he won a bronze medal in the Men's 800 m T53. At the 2011 Championships, he won a gold medal in the Men's s 800m T53 and a silver medal in the Men's 400 m T53. At the 2013 Championships in Lyon, France, he won bronze medals in the Men's 800m and 1500m T53 events. [15] [16] He was selected to compete at the 2015 Championships in Doha but withdrew from the competition. [17]
Colman grew up in Geelong and attended Geelong College. [18] Colman stated that “I did every single sport I could growing up, I think that’s why I’ve become an athlete because my school was so inclusive and supportive of the community and me being involved. It really did show me back then that yeah, I’m in a wheelchair but I can still be involved in nearly any sport and opportunities.” [18]
Colman is the first wheelchair AFL goal umpire in the Geelong League in 2007. [19] In 2009, he completed a Bachelor of Commerce studies at Deakin University.
He received a Deakin Young Alumni of the Year Award in 2012 in recognition of his outstanding sporting achievements, particularly in wheelchair athletics. [19]
Colman was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to sport as a gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and to the community". [20]
He is currently working with junior athletes to develop the next generation of Paralympic champions. In the summer he coaches international senior athletes in Geelong. [19]
Colman became the first person in a wheelchair to complete the Death Road in Bolivia, a 64 kilometre track which descends 3500 metres. Colman stated 'Death Road pushed me to my limits but it was an incredible experience to say the least.' [21]
In 2020, Colman is an Active Geelong Ambassador. [18]
Kurt Harry Fearnley, is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevented fetal development of certain parts of his lower spine and all of his sacrum. In Paralympic events he is classified in the T54 classification. He focuses on long and middle-distance wheelchair races, and has also won medals in sprint relays. He participated in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, finishing his Paralympic Games career with thirteen medals. He won a gold and silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was the Australian flag bearer at the closing ceremony.
Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach.
Christie Dawes is an Australian Paralympic wheelchair racing athlete. She has won three medals in athletics at seven Paralympics from 1996 to 2021.
Australia competed at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics from 27 August to 4 September in Daegu, South Korea.
Madison de Rozario, is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair racer who specialises in middle and long-distance events. She competed at the 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics, winning two gold medals, three silver and a bronze. She has also won ten medals at the World Para Athletics Championships and four gold at the Commonwealth Games. De Rozario holds the world record in the Women's 800m T53 and formerly in the Women's 1500m T53/54.
Angela Ballard is an Australian Paralympic athlete who competes in T53 wheelchair sprint events. She became a paraplegic at age 7 due to a car accident.
Jemima Moore is a Paralympian athlete from Australia competing mainly in category T53-54 4 x 100 metres relay events. She represented Australia at the 2008 Beijing and 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Richard Nicholson is an Australian Paralympic powerlifter and athlete. He has competed at five successive Paralympic Games from the 1996 to 2012 Summer Paralympics. At the 2000 Games, he won a silver medal in the powerlifting Men's Up to 60 kg event. In athletics, at the 2004 Athens Paralympics he won a silver medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m T53–54 event and at the 2012 London Paralympics a bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 m T53–54 event.
Fabian John Blattman, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He became disabled after a motorbike accident. He started playing disabled bowls, before switching to athletics. As a Paralympic athletics competitor, he has set several world records and won two Paralympic gold medals.
Gregory Stephen Smith, OAM is an Australian Paralympic athlete and wheelchair rugby player who won three gold medals in athletics at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, and a gold medal in wheelchair rugby at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where he was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
Matthew Cameron is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, he won a bronze medal.
Jake Lappin is an Australian para-athlete competing as a wheelchair racer. He represented Australia at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics and at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Rheed McCracken is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. He named the 2012 Junior Athlete of the Year as part of the Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympics, 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where he won three silver and two bronze medals.
Matthew Silcocks is an Australian athletics competitor. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics. He finished sixth in the 1500m, in a time of 3:59.79.
Rosemary Little is an Australian Paralympic athlete. She won a bronze medal in wheelchair racing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and has also competed in handcycling. She competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, her third Games, where switched from wheelchair racing to shot put.
Nathenial "Nath" Arkley is an Australian Paralympic track and field athlete. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, he won a bronze medal.
Sam McIntosh is an Australian Paralympic athlete who races in the T52 100m, 200m, and 400m events. He holds 3 Australian National Records and 2 Oceania Records. He represented Australia at the 2012 London Paralympic Games, 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in athletics as well as the 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2019 Para Athletic World Championships.
Men's 800m races for wheelchair athletes at the 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in the Athens Olympic Stadium. Events were held in three disability classes.
Brent Lakatos is a Canadian wheelchair racer in the T53 classification. Lakatos has represented Canada at three Summer Paralympics, and at the 2012 Games he won three silver medals in the sprint and mid-distance events. In 2013 Lakatos reached the pinnacle of his sport when he collected four gold medals at the IPC Athletics World Championships and became world champion at his classification in the 100m, 200m and 400m events.
Nathan Maguire is a British wheelchair racer. He won multiple medals at both the 2018 and 2021 World Para Athletics European Championships, and also won the 400 metres mixed class race at multiple British Athletics Championships. Maguire competed in the 4 × 400 metres relay T53/T54 at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and competed in the 400 metres T54, 800 metres T54 and mixed 4 × 100 metres relay events at the delayed 2020 Summer Paralympics. He was part of the British team that won a silver medal in the 2020 Paralympic mixed 4 × 100 metres relay. He also competed for England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and won the 1500 metres T54 event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
