Australia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics

Australia at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
IPC code	AUS
NPC	Australian Paralympic Committee
Website	www.paralympic.org.au
in Beijing
Competitors	167 in 13 sports
Flag bearers	Russell Short (Opening) Matthew Cowdrey (Closing)
Officials	122
Medals Ranked 5th	Gold 23 Silver 29 Bronze 27 Total 79
Summer Paralympics appearances (overview)
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024

Australia sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. The country sent 167 (95 male and 72 female) athletes in 13 sports (out of 20) and 122 officials.^[1] It was the country's largest ever Paralympic delegation to an away Games.^[2] The team sent to Beijing was described as the emergence of the new generation of Australian athletes with 56 percent of the team attending their first Paralympic Games.^[3] The delegation's chef de mission was Darren Peters.^[4]

Australia won 23 gold, 29 silver and 27 bronze medals. It finished fourth on the total medal tally and fifth on the gold medal tally. Major sporting achievements for the Australian team included:

• Matt Cowdrey, an arm amputee swimmer, winning five gold and three silver medals to be the Games' leading athlete.^[1]
• Peter Leek, a cerebral palsy swimmer, winning eight medals including three gold.
• Heath Francis, an arm amputee sprinter and Evan O'Hanlon, cerebral palsy sprinter winning three gold medals.^[1]
• Kurt Fearnley, a wheelchair racer, winning the marathon for the second time.^[1]
• Australian men's wheelchair basketball team winning gold.^[1]
• 98 Australian athletes won a medal.^[1]
• Australian athletes: 21 new world records, 31 Paralympic records, 79 Australian records and 164 personal bests.^[1]

^[1]

Jodi Willis-Roberts, Russell Short, and Darren Thrupp competed at their sixth Paralympics. Jessica Gallagher was selected in the team but was classified ineligible to compete. She attended the Games as a member of staff.^[1] Australian athletes set six world records, a further three Paralympic records and 16 Australian records during the Games.^[1] Heath Francis and Evan O'Hanlon won three gold medals.^[1][3]

Athlete	Class	Event	Heats		Semifinal		Final
			Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Jonathan Bernard (guide Paul Pearce)	T12	400m	52.11	11	did not advance
Matthew Cameron	T54	100m	14.92	12	did not advance
Richard Colman	T53	200m	26.80	2 Q	—		26.71
		400m	52.38	4 Q	—		48.92
		800m	1:39.90	6 Q	—		1:37.49	4
	T54	1500m	3:08.18	5 Q	3:02.19	9	did not advance
Roy Daniell (guide Christopher Tagg)	T12	Marathon	—				2:40:47	13
Kurt Fearnley	T54	800m	1:38.79	4 Q	1:39.39	6 Q	1:36.76
		1500m	3:06.96	1 Q	3:00.15	2 Q	3:14.28
		5000m	10:13.21 PR	1 Q	—		10:22.97
		Marathon	—				1:23:17 PR
Heath Francis	T46	100m	11.07	1 Q	—		11.05
		200m	22.13	1 Q	—		21.74 WR
		400m	49.39	1 Q	—		47.69 WR
Gerrard Gosens (guide Bruce Jones)	T11	1500m	4:21.00	6 q	—		4:24.65	6
Christopher Mullins	T38	200m	25.51	14	did not advance
		400m	—				54.59	6
Richard Nicholson	T54	100m	14.87	9	did not advance
		200m	26.37	14	did not advance
		400m	50.36	20	did not advance
Evan O'Hanlon	T38	100m	—				10.96 WR
		200m	22.98	1 Q	—		21.98 WR
Michael Roeger	T46	800m	2:00.40	11	did not advance
		1500m	4:09.62	7 Q	—		3:59.21	8
		5000m	—				15:36.95	11
Brad Scott	T37	200m	25.06	2 Q	—		25.09	4
		800m	—				2:02.71
Ian Speed (guide Zac Ashkansky)	T12	800m	2:01.48	9	did not advance
Tim Sullivan	T38	100m	—				11.91	7
		200m	23.74	7 Q	—		23.62	7
		400m	—				DSQ
Darren Thrupp	T37	100m	12.54	7 q	—		12.59	7
Stephen Wilson	T44	100m	11.87	5 Q	—		11.78	5
		400m	—				55.49	5
Christopher Mullins Evan O'Hanlon Tim Sullivan Darren Thrupp	T35-38	4 × 100 m relay	—				44.81 WR
Aaron Chatman Heath Francis Paul Raison Stephen Wilson	T42-46	4 × 100 m relay	—				45.80
Matthew Cameron Richard Colman Kurt Fearnley Richard Nicholson	T53-54	4 × 100 m relay	52.60	3 Q	—		DSQ

Athlete	Class	Event	Final
			Result	Points	Rank
Damien Bowen	F33-34/52	Javelin throw	26.52	994	7
Aaron Chatman	F44/46	High jump	2.02	1011
Rodney Farr	F33-34/52	Javelin throw	17.55	1003	6
		Shot put	8.49	930	11
Greg Hibberd	F33-34/52	Shot put	10.83	1004	5
Hamish MacDonald	F33-34/52	Shot put	10.82	1003	6
Wade McMahon	F37-38	Javelin throw	46.71 SB	970	4
Paul Raison	F44	Discus throw	49.77	921	5
		Shot put	15.83	988
Russell Short	F11-12	Shot put	14.79	912	6
Darren Thrupp	F37-38	Long jump	5.82 SB	1011	5

Athlete	Class	Event	Heats		Semifinal		Final
			Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Angela Ballard	T53	100m	18.19	6 Q	—		17.89	5
		200m	32.36	7 q	—		31.81	7
		400m	1:01.02	6 Q	—		59.82	7
		800m	—				2:02.56	6
Carlee Beattie	T46	100m	13.70	15	did not advance
		200m	28.05	15	did not advance
Gemma Buchholz	T52	100m	—				24.64	8
		200m	—				44.57	8
Kelly Cartwright	T42	100m	—				18.36	6
Christie Dawes	T54	800m	2:00.21	11	did not advance
		1500m	3:35.80	10	did not advance
		5000m	—				12:31.66	6
Madison de Rozario	T54	100m	17.44	8 Q	—		17.21	8
		400m	59.78	10	did not advance
Courtney Harbeck	T13	100m	13.03	9	did not advance
		200m	27.73	10	did not advance
Lisa McIntosh	T37	100m	14.27	1 Q	—		14.14
		200m	29.18	1 Q	—		29.28
Kirrilee McPherson	T38	100m	15.29	9	did not advance
		200m	31.97	10	did not advance
Jemima Moore	T54	200m	32.99	11	did not advance
Katy Parrish	T38	100m	14.31	4 Q	—		DNS
		200m	30.46	5 Q	—		30.46	5
Tahlia Rotumah	T37	100m	15.22	10	did not advance
		200m	31.79	9	did not advance
Julie Smith	T46	100m	12.65	3 Q	—		12.74	4
		200m	26.37	2 Q	—		26.03
Christine Wolf	T42	100m	—				17.49
Angela Ballard Christie Dawes Madison de Rozario Jemima Moore	T53-54	4 × 100 m relay	—				1:01.91

Athlete	Class	Event	Final
			Result	Points	Rank
Jennifer Bryce	F54-56	Javelin throw	17.88	898	11
		Shot put	7.85 SB	954	8
Louise Ellery	F32-34/52-53	Shot put	5.07	997	6
Amanda Fraser	F37-38	Discus throw	29.73 SB	1012
		Shot put	10.52 SB	1026	4
Madeleine Hogan	F42-46	Javelin throw	38.89 SB	1062
Brydee Moore	F32-34/51-53	Discus throw	16.02	1061	5
	F32-34/52-53	Shot put	6.38	1005	5
	F33-34/52-53	Javelin throw	11.60	856	13
Kath Proudfoot	F35-36	Discus throw	23.91	1111
		Shot put	8.35	938	4
Charlotte Saville	F35-38	Javelin throw	22.78	959	10
Noni Thompson	F35-36	Discus throw	15.21	707	10
		Shot put	6.07	682	11
Jodi Willis-Roberts	F12-13	Shot put	11.21	898
Christine Wolf	F42	Long jump	3.73 WR	-

Coaches – Scott Goodman (Head Coach), Alison O'Riordan, Andrew Dawes, Brett Jones, Louise Sauvage, Iryna Dvoskina, John Minns, John Eden, Alan Makin, Cathy Raha-Lambert

Officials – Gary Lees (Section Manager), Louise Mogg (Section Manager),Andrew Carter, Rowena Toppenberg, Sian Pugh, Mick Jordan, Phil Power, Steve Butler, Stephanie Martin, Jessica Gallagher

Included on the Australian team was Michael Milton, a four-time gold medalist as a skier in the Winter Paralympics.^[5] Mark le Flohic, gold medalist at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Paralympics, was to take part in the Beijing Games but had to pull out due to injury. Le Flohic broke his collar bone during training one week before the Games were to begin.^[6]

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Michael Gallagher	Men's road time trial LC1	35:29.74	5
	Men's road race LC1/LC2/CP4	1:46:03
Michael Milton	Men's road race LC1/LC2/CP4	1:49:29	21
Christopher Scott	Men's road time trial CP4	35:55.99
	Men's road race LC1/LC2/CP4	1:46:18	14
Bryce Lindores Steven George (pilot)	Men's road race B&VU 1-3	DNF
Kieran Modra Tyson Lawrence (pilot)	Men's road time trial B&VI 1-3	33:03.24	5
	Men's road race B&VI 1-3	2:24:55	11

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Quarterfinals		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Opposition Time	Rank
Greg Ball	Men's 1km time trial LC3-4	—						1:17.681
Michael Gallagher	Men's 1km time trial LC1	—						1:11.01	4
	Men's individual pursuit LC1	4:40.65 PR	1 Q	—				Sacher (GER) W 4:43.28
Michael Milton	Men's 1km time trial LC3-4	—						1:21.578	9
	Men's individual pursuit LC3	4:10.44	8	did not advance
Christopher Scott	Men's 1km time trial CP4	—						1:12.23
	Men's individual pursuit CP4	3:38.205	2 Q	—				Ishi (JPN) W 3:40.144
Ben Demery Shaun Hopkins (pilot)	Men's 1km time trial B&VI 1-3	—						1:03.718
	Men's sprint	10.629	2 Q	Arciniegas (COL)  Carreno (COL) W 11.053 W 11.405	Q	Kilpatrick (RSA)  Thomson (RSA) W 11.553	Q	Kappes (GBR)  Storey (GBR) L
Bryce Lindores Steven George (pilot)	Men's 1km time trial B&VI 1-3	—						1:04.792	6
	Men's individual pursuit B&VI 1-3	4:27.578	4 q	—				Chalifour (CAN)  Cloutier (CAN) W 4:26.626
Kieran Modra Tyson Lawrence (pilot)	Men's 1km time trial B&VI 1-3	—						1:04.053
	Men's individual pursuit B&VI 1-3	4:18.961 WR	1 Q	—				Venge (ESP)  Llaurado (ESP) W 4:18.166 WR
Greg Ball Michael Gallagher Christopher Scott	Men's team sprint	54.585	4 q	—				Czech Republic (CZE) L 54.239	4

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Jane Armstrong	Women's LC3/LC4/CP3	50:51.82	10
Mel Leckie	Women's road time trial HC A/HC B/HC C	30:32.61	6
	Women's road race HC A/B/C	1:31:14	8
Jayme Paris	Women's road time trial LC3/LC4/CP3	52:51.82	8
Lindy Hou Toireasa Gallagher (pilot)	Women's road time trial B&VI 1-3	39:01:62	4
	Women's road race B&VI 1-3	2:01:17	4

Athlete	Event	Qualification		1st round		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Opposition Time	Rank
Jane Armstrong	Women's individual pursuit LC3-4/CP3	4:35.768	7	did not advance
	Women's 1km time trial LC3-4/CP3	—				45.402	4
Jayme Paris	Women's individual pursuit LC3-4/CP3	4:24.666	4 q	—		Tesoriero (NZL) L 4:26.587	4
	Women's 1km time trial LC3-4/CP3	—				44.490
Lindy Hou Katie Parker (pilot - time trial) Toireasa Gallagher (pilot - ind. pursuit)	Women's individual pursuit B&VI 1-3	3:38.085	1 Q	—		McGlynn (GBR)  Hunter (GBR) L 3:41.494
	Women's 1km time trial B&VI 1-3	—				1:12.463
Felicity Johnson Katie Parker (pilot)	Women's 1km time trial B&VI 1-3	—				1:10.465

Coaches – James Victor (Head Coach), Tom Skulander, Paul Martens Officials – Mark Fulcher (Section Manager), Brett Hidson, Anouska Edwards, Alan Downes, Mark Bullen, Stuart Smith, Murray Lydeamore.^[1][3]

Athlete	Horse	Event	Total
			Score	Rank
Grace Bowman	Yv Mt Batton	Mixed individual championship test grade Ib	56.286	15
		Mixed individual freestyle test grade Ib	61.611	12
Georgia Bruce	V Salute	Mixed individual championship test grade IV	68.258
		Mixed individual freestyle test grade IV	74.319
Sharon Jarvis	Odorado	Mixed individual championship test grade III	69.200	4
		Mixed individual freestyle test grade III	69.446	7
Nicole Kullen	Nomination	Mixed individual championship test grade Ib	59.905	11
		Mixed individual freestyle test grade Ib	66.110	4
Jan Pike	Griffin	Mixed individual championship test grade Ia	60.000	9
		Mixed individual freestyle test grade Ia	65.555	7

Athlete	Horse	Event	Individual score			Total
			TT	CT	Total	Score	Rank
Grace Bowman	See above	Team	58.235	56.286	114.521	388.092	6
Nicole Kullen			60.235	59.905	120.140*
Sharon Jarvis			62.923	69.200	132.123*
Georgia Bruce			67.571	68.258	135.829*

* Indicated the three best individual scores that count towards the team total.

Coaches – Mary Longden (Head Coach),David Bowman, Sally Francis Officials – Ken Dagley (Chef d’Equipe), Doug Denby, Nicola Reynoldson, Michelle Goodrick, Judy Fyfe, Margaret Keyes, Emma Bardot, Ebony Tucker, Terrina Fairbrother, Liz Wright-Smith, Chris Elliott, Carolyn Lieutenant.^[1][3]

Athlete	Event	First Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Repechage round 1	Repechage round 2	Final/ Bronze medal contest
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Anthony Clarke	Men's 90kg	—	Kretsul (RUS) L 0000–1000	—	Vazquez (ESP) L 0000-0121	did not advance

Athlete	Event	Result	Rank
Abebe Fekadu	56kg	155.0	10
Darren Gardiner	+100kg	230.0

Athlete	Event	Result	Rank
Deahnne McIntyre	+82.5kg	127.5	4

Coaches – Ray Epstein (Head Coach), Bill Nancarrow^[1][3]

Rowing made its debut at the Beijing Games. There were four boat classes which all competed over a distance of 1000m.^[7] Australia competed in two of the four rowing events. Australian athletes Kathryn Ross and John Maclean competed in the trunk and arms mixed double skulls.^[8] They won the silver medal, however only missed out on the gold by 0.08 seconds.^[8] The gold was won by a crew from China.

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Dominic Monypenny	Men's singles sculls	5:38.29	5 R	6:02.45	4 FA	5:59.92	6
John MacLean Kathryn Ross	Mixed double sculls	4:18.66	3 R	4:31.24	1 FA	4:21.58

Coaches - Pedro Albisser (Head Coach), Rik Bryan Officials - Adam Horner (Section Manager)

Athlete	Event	Race											Total points	Net points Total	Rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Aaron Hill	1 person keelboat 2.4mR	(12)	10	10	8	10	(13)	6	8	10	11	—	98	73	12
Daniel Fitzgibbon Rachel Cox	2 person keelboat SKUD 18	(4)	2	2	2	2	4	(9)	3	1	2	Race Cancelled	31	18
Colin Harrison Jonathan Harris Graeme Martin	3 person keelboat sonar	8	4	2	3	3	3	1	(10)	(15) OCS	5	7	61	36

Coaches – Greg Omay (Head Coach), Adrian Finglas Officials – Sarina Macpherson (Section Manager), Linnea Korssell, Sue Crafer, Geoff Milligan, Timothy Lowe^[1][3]

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Score	Rank	Score	Total	Rank
Ashley Adams	Men's 10m air rifle standing SH1	593	2 Q	100.0	693.0	4
	Men's 50m rifle 3 positions	1137	9	did not advance
	Mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1	599	11	did not advance
	Mixed 50m rifle prone SH1	590	2 Q	98.5	688.5	4
Sebastian Hume	Men's 10m air pistol SH1	553	22	did not advance
Jason Maroney	Mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2	599	8 Q	104.9	703.9	6
	Mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2	597	5 Q	103.6	700.6	5

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Score	Rank	Score	Total	Rank
Libby Kosmala	Women's 10m air rifle standing SH1	390	2 Q	99.1	489.1	4
	Women's 50m rifle 3 positions SH1	556	9	did not advance
	Mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1	597	19	did not advance
	Mixed 50m rifle prone SH1	577	33	did not advance

Coaches – Miroslav Sipek (Head Coach), Michelle Fletcher Officials – Nick Sullivan (Section Manager), Anne Bugden^[1][3]

There were eight men and eleven women making their Paralympic debut. Australia won 9 gold, 11 silver and 9 bronze medals placing it sixth on the swimming medal tally. It was Australia's most successful sport at the Games. Matthew Cowdrey (5 gold and 3 silver) and Peter Leek (3 gold, 4 silver and 1 bronze) were the standout swimmers.

Athlete	Class	Event	Heats		Final
			Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Michael Anderson	S10	100m backstroke	1:01.70 PR	2 Q	1:01.47
		50m freestyle	25.13	6 Q	25.04	6
		100m freestyle	56.08	11	did not advance
Ben Austin	S8	100m butterfly	1:04.83	5 Q	1:03.50	5
		50m freestyle	28.09	5 Q	27.82	5
		100m freestyle	59.62 PR	2 Q	59.78	4
Daniel Bell	S10	100m butterfly	1:00.24	6 Q	59.85	5
	SB9	100m breaststroke	1:14.33	9	did not advance
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:22.96	10	did not advance
Sam Bramham	S9	100m butterfly	1:02.33	4 Q	1:02.58	7
		100m freestyle	58.97	11	did not advance
		400m freestyle	4:25.67	3 Q	4:21.35	4
Blake Cochrane	S8	100m backstroke	1:17.72	12	did not advance
	SB7	100m breaststroke	1:23.69	2 Q	1:23.36
Matthew Cowdrey	S9	100m backstroke	1:05.60	2 Q	1:03.34 WR
		100m butterfly	1:01.05	3 Q	59.46
		50m freestyle	26.09	4 Q	25.34 WR
		100m freestyle	56.53	2 Q	55.30 WR
		400m freestyle	4:27.26	5 Q	4:17.28
	SM9	200m individual medley	2:20.62	2 Q	2:13.60 WR
Jay Dohnt	S7	100m backstroke	1:24.88	12	did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:11.33	11	did not advance
		400m freestyle	5:06.65	4 Q	4:59.47
	SM7	200m individual medley	3:03.73	10	did not advance
Alex Hadley	S7	50m butterfly	37.10	10	did not advance
		50m freestyle	30.76	4 Q	30.75	4
		100m freestyle	1:08.67	7 Q	1:07.90	6
		400m freestyle	5:18.23	7 Q	5:20.79	7
Brenden Hall	S9	400m freestyle	4:23.35 PR	1 Q	4:22.19	5
Peter Leek	S8	100m backstroke	1:07.54 PR	2 Q	1:07.28
		100m butterfly	1:01.01	1 Q	1:00.95
		50m freestyle	27.69	2 Q	26.89
		100m freestyle	59.00 PR	1 Q	59.14
		400m freestyle	4:35.87 PR	2 Q	4:31.16
	SM8	200m individual medley	2:25.72 PR	1 Q	2:20.92 WR
Matt Levy	S8	50m freestyle	28.55	6 Q	29.68	8
		400m freestyle	4:50.78	6 Q	4:51.77	7
	SM8	200m individual medley	2:39.40	6 Q	2:38.35	7
Jeremy McClure	S12	100m backstroke	1:05.95	7 Q	1:06.32	7
		50m freestyle	27.58	14	did not advance
	SB12	100m breaststroke	1:19.56	10	did not advance
Ricardo Moffatti	S8	100m backstroke	1:13.56	6 Q	1:12.58	5
		100m freestyle	1:00.67	5 Q	59.93	5
Stephen Osborne	S9	100m butterfly	1:06.33	13	did not advance
		50m freestyle	27.20	14	did not advance
		100m freestyle	59.70	18	did not advance
Andrew Pasterfield	S10	100m backstroke	1:04.26	4 Q	1:04.24	7
		50m freestyle	25.34	9	did not advance
		100m freestyle	56.03	10	did not advance
Rick Pendleton	S10	100m butterfly	1:00.96	7 Q	59.87	6
	SB9	100m breaststroke	1:12.34	4 Q	1:10.88	4
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:18.76	1 Q	2:12.78 WR
Jeremy Tidy	S10	100m backstroke	1:05.37	8 Q	1:05.26	8
		100m butterfly	1:01.73	11	did not advance
		50m freestyle	25.83	12	did not advance
		100m freestyle	55.72	9	did not advance
	SB9	100m breaststroke	1:16.04	11	did not advance
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:19.44	2 Q	2:19.76	6
Ben Austin Sam Bramham Matthew Cowdrey Peter Leek	-	Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay	—		3:53.59
Daniel Bell Sam Bramham Matt Levy Ricardo Moffatti	-	Men's 4 × 100 m medley relay	4:33.02	4 Q	4:11.90 WR

Athlete	Class	Event	Heats		Final
			Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Sarah Bowen	S6	100m backstroke	1:43.98	9	did not advance
	SB6	100m breaststroke	1:44.44	2 Q	1:42.39
	SM6	200m individual medley	3:40.89	10	did not advance
Ellie Cole	S9	100m backstroke	1:13.12	3 Q	1:11.87
		100m butterfly	1:10.70	2 Q	1:10.92
		100m freestyle	1:05.11	5 Q	1:04.24	4
		400m freestyle	4:45.17	2 Q	4:44.60
	SM9	200m individual medley	2:42.26	5 Q	DNS
Amanda Drennan	S9	100m backstroke	1:17.06	9	did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:06.81	12	did not advance
		400m freestyle	5:04.62	8 Q	5:07.24	8
Jacqueline Freney	S8	50m freestyle	32.49	4 Q	32.37
		100m freestyle	1:09.92	2 Q	1:08.56
		400m freestyle	5:02.32	3 Q	4:57.21
Samantha Gandolfo	S10	50m freestyle	31.15	11	did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:05.12	8 Q	1:05.74	8
		400m freestyle	4:48.90	3 Q	4:48.02	5
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:49.45	9	did not advance
Marayke Jonkers	SM4	150m individual medley	—		3:28.88
Katrina Lewis	S10	50m freestyle	28.91	1 Q	29.13
Sian Lucas	S10	100m backstroke	1:14.64	5 Q	1:14.66	5
		100m freestyle	1:07.05	11	did not advance
		400m freestyle	4:52.14	6 Q	4:49.98	8
Hannah MacDougall	S10	100m backstroke	1:17.87	9	did not advance
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:53.34	10	did not advance
Tarryn McGaw	S10	100m backstroke	1:16.58	7 Q	1:15.66	7
		50m freestyle	30.56	10	did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:05.03	7 Q	1:04.83	7
		400m freestyle	5:03.42	8 Q	4:49.79	7
	SM10	200m individual medley	2:45.89	7 Q	2:46.57	7
Rhiannon Oliver	S8	100m backstroke	1:34.92	9	did not advance
		50m freestyle	35.25	12	did not advance
		100m freestyle	1:15.57	11	did not advance
	SB7	100m breaststroke	—		1:45.49	5
Esther Overton	S3	50m backstroke	1:12.49	4 Q	1:13.33	5
		50m freestyle	1:11.99	6 Q	1:12.26	6
Katrina Porter	S7	100m backstroke	1:24.44 WR	1 Q	1:24.30 WR
		50m butterfly	DSQ		did not advance
		400m freestyle	5:43.88	5 Q	5:44.93	5
	SB6	100m breaststroke	1:55.26	7 Q	1:55.08	7
	SM7	200m individual medley	DSQ		did not advance
Shelley Rogers	S7	100m backstroke	1:31.49	6 Q	1:30.26	5
		50m butterfly	41.35	6 Q	40.02	6
	SM7	200m individual medley	3:17.34	3 Q	3:12.68	4
Sarah Rose	S6	50m freestyle	40.90	9	did not advance
		50m butterfly	41.37	5 Q	40.95	4
		100m freestyle	1:30.31	10	did not advance
	SM6	200m individual medley	3:30.68	7 Q	3:29.54	7
Teigan van Roosmalen	S13	100m backstroke	1:16.26	9	did not advance
		100m butterfly	1:10.57	6 Q	1:09.48	7
		50m freestyle	—		30.51	8
		100m freestyle	1:07.64	9	did not advance
		400m freestyle	4:58.20	8 Q	5:02.17	8
	SM13	200m individual medley	—		2:39.20	6
Prue Watt	S13	100m backstroke	1:15.65	8 Q	1:16.05	8
		100m butterfly	1:08.21	4 Q	1:07.48	4
		50m freestyle	—		28.16	5
		100m freestyle	1:02.61	6 Q	1:01.59	6
		400m freestyle	4:49.80	5 Q	4:46.21	6
	SM13	200m individual medley	—		2:32.87	5
Annabelle Williams	S9	100m butterfly	1:11.41	4 Q	1:10.98
		50m freestyle	29.76	3 Q	29.80	4
		100m freestyle	1:05.71	7 Q	1:05.43	7

Coaches – Brendan Keogh (Head Coach), Graeme Carroll, Jackie Barck, Amanda Isaac, Jo Love, Rob Moon, Mel Tantrum

Officials – Melanie Jenkins (Section Manager), Jon O'Neill-Shaw, Sandra Eccles, Claire Nichols, Brendan Burkett, Sacha Fulton, Penny Will, Vaughan Nicholson^[1][3]

Athlete	Event	Preliminaries				Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final / BM
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Rebecca Julian	Women's singles C6-7	van Zon (NED) L 2–3	Pitry (POL) L 0–3	—	3	did not advance
Sarah Lazzaro	Women's singles C9	Liu M (CHN) L 0-3	Grzelak (POL) L 0-3	Komleva (RUS) L 0-3	4	did not advance
Rebecca Julian Sarah Lazzaro	Women's team C6-10	No preliminaries				Ukraine (UKR) L 0-3	did not advance

Coach – Brian Berry (Head Coach) Official – Barbara Talbot (Section Manager). Catherine Morrow was selected but withdrew from the team.^[1][3]

Australian men's team known as the 'Rollers' won the gold medal defeating Canada 72–60 in the final

Team roster

Dylan Alcott, Brendan Dowler, Justin Eveson, Michael Hartnett, Adrian King, Tristan Knowles, Grant Mizens, Brad Ness, Shaun Norris, Troy Sachs, Tige Simmons, Brett Stibners
Coaches – Ben Ettridge (Head Coach), Craig Friday Officials – Kelvin Browner (section Manager), Ian Lowther

Group B Matches

---

---

---

---

---

---

Group B Standings

Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
Australia (Q)	5	4	1	346	291	+55	9
United States (Q)	5	4	1	378	247	+131	9
Great Britain (Q)	5	4	1	334	271	+63	9
Israel (Q)	5	2	3	332	325	+7	7
Brazil	5	1	4	291	348	−57	6
China	5	0	5	203	402	−199	5

Quarter finals

---

---

Semi finals

---

Gold medal game

---

---

The women's team known as the 'Gliders' won the bronze medal defeating Japan in the playoff.^[1][3]

Team roster

Clare Burzynski, Shelley Chaplin, Cobi Crispin, Melanie Domaschenz, Kylie Gauci, Melanie Hall, Katie Hill, Bridie Kean, Tina McKenzie, Kathleen O'Kelly-Kennedy, Sarah Stewart, Liesl Tesch

Coaches – Gerry Hewson (Head Coach), Mark Hewish

Officials – Sonia Healy (Section Manager), Emma Whiteside.^[1][3]

Group A Standings'

---

---

---

---

---

Group A Table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	United States (Q)	4	4	0	227	149	+78	8
2	Germany (Q)	4	3	1	214	174	+40	7
3	Australia (Q)	4	2	2	223	185	+38	6
4	Great Britain (Q)	4	1	3	166	194	−28	5
5	Brazil	4	0	4	129	257	−128	4

Quarter-finals

---

Semi-finals

Bronze medal game

---

---

Representing Australia in wheelchair rugby:
Men – Bryce Alman, Ryley Batt, Grant Boxall, Shane Brand, Cameron Carr, Nazim Erdem, George Hucks, Steve Porter, Ryan Scott, Greg Smith, Scott Vitale Coach – Brad Dubberley (Head Coach) Officials – Kim Ellwood (Section Manager), Rob Doidge, Noni Shelton, Angela Mansell^[1][3]

Three of the team made their Paralympic debut and Steve Porter attended his fourth Games. The Australian team known as the 'Steelers' won the silver medal losing to the United States 53–44 in the final.

Group B Standing and Results

Group B

Rank	Team	Pld	W	L	PF:PA	Pts		AUS	GBR	NZL	GER
1	Australia (AUS)	3	3	0	129:111	6		x	43:37	39:38	47:36
2	Great Britain (GBR)	3	2	1	115:116	5		37:43	x	39:38	39:35
3	New Zealand (NZL)	3	1	2	116:109	4		38:39	38:39	x	40:31
4	Germany (GER)	3	0	3	102:126	3		36:47	35:39	31:40	x

  Qualified for quarterfinals

  Eliminated

Source: Paralympic.org^[11]

	Semifinals				Gold medal match
	15 September 2008 - 18:00
	United States	35
					16 September 2008 - 20:00
	Great Britain	32
					United States	53
	15 September 2008 - 20:00
					Australia	44
	Australia	41
	Canada	40
					Bronze medal match
					16 September 2008 - 18:00
					Great Britain	41
					Canada	47

Source: Paralympic.org^[11]

Athlete	Class	Event	Round of 64	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
			Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Michael Dobbie	Open	Men's singles	Schmaeh (SUI) W 6–3, 6-4	Wikstrom (SWE) L 1–6, 3-6	did not advance
Ben Weekes			Fujimoto (JPN) L 5–7, 4–6	did not advance
Michael Dobbie Ben Weekes		Men's doubles	—	Legner (AUT)  Mossier (AUT) L 4–6, 1-6	did not advance

Athlete	Class	Event	Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
			Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result
Daniela di Toro	Open	Women's singles	Vergeer (NED) L 2–6, 0–6	did not advance

Coach – Greg Crump (Head Coach) Officials – Geoff Quinlan (Section Manager)^[1][3]

There were 19 venues for the Paralympics in Beijing. From this, 18 were used at the Olympics and also in the Paralympic games.^[12] Venues were spread throughout three regions in China.^[13] “In the construction of the Olympic venues and related facilities, we will give full consideration to the special needs of the athletes and spectators with physical disabilities, to materialize the goal of "equality, participation and sharing"”.^[12] When constructing venues for both the Olympic and Paralympic, impediment free designs had to be used to enable access by able and disabled bodies.^[14]

Facilities where Australians competed include the Beijing National Stadium (Birds Nest), Beijing National Aquatics Centre (Water Cube), Beijing National Indoor Stadium (Fan) as well as many more.

Many of the venues were designed by Australian companies. One of the iconic venues ‘The Water Cube’, was designed by Australian companies PTW Architects, ARUP Aust., Anti Wave International CSCEC.^[15] Other facilities used by for the Paralympics included the Archery, Hockey and Tennis venues which were all designed by Bligh Voller Nield.^[15] Many other Australian companies also contributed to the design and building of facilities.

Athletes and coaches were supported by administrative and sports medicine and science staff. Administrative staff – Darren Peters (Chef de Mission), Nick Dean (Deputy Chef de Mission), Paul Bird (Chef de Mission), Alison Keys, Jason Hellwig (General Manager), Steve Loader, Michael Hartung, Natalie Jenkins, Caroline Walker, Chris Nunn (Performance Consultant), Jenni Cole, Tony Naar (Chief Information Manager), Graham Cassidy (Media Manager), Margie McDonald, Jordan Baker, Karen Michelmore
Sports medicine and science staff – Larissa Trease, Alison Campbell (Medical Coordinator), Geoff Thompson, Ruben Branson, Sally Heads, John Camens, David Spurrier, Lily Chiu, Richard Bennett, Gary Slater, Jo Vaile^[1][3]

“Australia's Paralympic team is funded by the Federal Government but also relies heavily on donations and corporate sponsorship”.^[16] The growth of Paralympic sports has grown phenomenally in the past decade however there was concern this didn't translate into increased corporate sponsorship, especially before the 2008 games.^[16] Despite this, the Australian Paralympic Committee outlined in their Annual Report for 2007/08 that their corporate sponsorship revenue increased. The revenue for corporate sponsorship was $1.47 million for the year, resulting in a 17.7 per cent increase from the previous year.^[17]

Telstra was one of many major sponsors at the Beijing Games. Throughout the games, the Australia Paralympic Committee and Telstra created the Telstra HeroMessage program.^[17] The program generated 7,000 messages of support that were sent to athletes at the games.^[17] The program also ran Chat to a Champ. It allowed students from the Telstra Paralympic Education Program to talk to their Paralympic heroes at the games via the internet.^[17]

Toyota was another sponsor for the Paralympic team in Beijing. Toyota has been supporting the APC for over 12 years (at the time) and through this has been building awareness of the Paralympic movement.^[17][18] They ran multiple promotions in the lead up to the 2008 games. This included developing a media campaign with News Limited and also adding information on Paralympic Games/Athletes to their website.^[17]

Representatives from the 25 key sponsors and supporters were sent to Beijing as a part of the BSSP Program. This experience enabled them to see 7 days of the games and witness sports such as swimming cycling, basketball, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair basketball and many more.^[17] They also had the chance to tour the Paralympic village, meet the athletes and staff and have an official greeting at the Australian Embassy.^[17] “The BSSP enables sponsors and key supporters to experience the Games firsthand and to see the impact of their support on Australia’s Paralympic athletes”.^[17]

The Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) runs the Toyota Paralympic Talent Search Program. "Its main goal is to identify people with physical disabilities, vision impairments or intellectual disabilities who display the athletic potential to one day make it to Paralympic level competition".^[19] There were 53 athletes from the program who became a part of the Paralympic Preparation Program leading up to the games.^[17] From this pool of athletes, 27 where chosen to represent Australia in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Team.^[17] By the end of the games, 15 of those who were selected to be in the team from the Talent Program won medals at their first Paralympic games.^[17]

Since 1990 the Australian Paralympic Committee has been responsible for preparing the Summer and Winter Teams for the Paralympic Games.^[20] They also assist athletes to prepare by, "…providing funding for coaching, equipment and travel in the lead up to the…Paralympic Games".^[20] Fundraising is an essential avenue for the APC to provide funding for the team. Through various fundraising activities in the lead up to the 2008 games, a $3.11 million gross revenue was made from the 1 October 2007 to the 30 September 2008.^[17] This figure beat the target that was set. Revenue of $2.26 million was earned through activities such as raffles, lottery draws and promotional sales.^[17] Allsports Direct Australia is a contracted raffle trader and contributed to helping the APC earn the amount fundraised.The APC acknowledges the support from their individual and corporate donors. Almost $850,000 (from the 2007-2008 financial year) from individual and corporate donors went directly to the Beijing Paralympic Team.^[17]

Because Australia was sending their largest Paralympic team to the 2008 games, they wanted to make sure that their efforts would be broadcast to Australians. This included putting in place many initiatives to publish, broadcast and promote the games and Paralympic achievements. In order to distribute content they worked with the Australian Associated Press (AAP), “to maximise distribution of key stories, developing relationships with editors and key journalists, developing a program of events and activities and providing quality background information and stories”.^[17] Media Monitors, established there was a total of 31,986 Australian media stories distributed throughout the 2008 Paralympic Games.^[17] Online traffic on the APC's website throughout the Beijing Games increased more than 500 percent over Athens and media coverage.^[17] The Australian Paralympic Committee reported that there was a 65 per cent increase in Australian media coverage of the Games compared to the 2004 Games in Athens.^[1] Independent research has also indicated that 64 percent of Australians followed the Beijing Paralympics, which indicates that APC's goal to broadcast the games to Australians over multiple platforms was achieved.^[21]

The 2008 Paralympic Games also had television coverage by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The ABC produced the largest, “coverage by an Australian broadcaster in the Paralympic Games history”.^[22] There was 40 crew that traveled to Beijing so that the ABC was able to produce more there 120 hours of coverage, including 100 hours which were broadcast live.^[22] It also included daily segments which showed highlights from the games and Australian athlete.^[3] The highlights shown at 6pm where, "...pulling in an average audience of over 400,000 viewers".^[23] The coverage of the games was shown over six platforms including television, online and radio. The ABC were, “…awarded Paralympic broadcaster of the year for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games”.^[24] Australian athlete Gerrard Gosens commented on the television coverage "When I look back to 1996 and the coverage that was there, it was very minimal. Today when you're looking at over 100 hours of ABC television coverage, that really has brought inspiration not only to many Australians, but in particular people who do have a physical disability and looking at the opportunities, not necessarily the obstacles of sport.

Inconsistent media coverage between males and females has always been an issue in sport, even in coverage at the Paralympic Games.“In 2007, the Australian government made a pre-election commitment to provide A$1 million to the APC towards the coverage of the 2008 summer and 2010 winter Paralympic Games for the purpose of promoting female participation and role models”.^[25] A study conducted for the APC found that the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, “…coverage of women at the Games in Australian media was broadly in line with their proportion of the Australian Team (45%) and their total medal success at the Games (37%)”.^[25] Women's sport coverage exceeded the media's normal 2 percent allocation of females sport coverage.^[25]

• Australia at the Paralympics
• Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics

• Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games Official Site
• International Paralympic Committee Historical Results Database – detailed listing of results
• Australian Paralympic Committee Media Guide Beijing 2008
• "Remarks at the announcement of the Australian 2008 Paralympics Team", official website of the Prime Minister of Australia, 29 July 2008
• "Top 10 Aussies to watch", Daily Telegraph, 4 September 2008