When Mali Lovell was a child, a doctor told her family she would never be an Olympian. She had just been diagnosed with ataxia, a rare type of cerebral palsy that affects balance and coordination as a child. From the little girl in preschool who couldn’t walk, to a Paralympian in the making – Mali is focused on proving that “anything is possible.” The teen took up athletics at the age of twelve after she was encouraged by her first soccer coach and a family friend, and she hasn’t looked back. At 17, she was close to qualifying for the …
Read MoreWhen Mali Lovell was a child, a doctor told her family she would never be an Olympian.
She had just been diagnosed with ataxia, a rare type of cerebral palsy that affects balance and coordination as a child.
From the little girl in preschool who couldn’t walk, to a Paralympian in the making – Mali is focused on proving that “anything is possible.”
The teen took up athletics at the age of twelve after she was encouraged by her first soccer coach and a family friend, and she hasn’t looked back.
At 17, she was close to qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, making incredible progress over the past few years under the expert guidance of coaches Katie Edwards and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor in Sydney.
The T36 athlete competes in the Women’s 200m and 100m.
At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, her first major international competition, she won the silver medal in the Women’s 200m T36 and was seventh in the Women’s 100m T36.
Away from sport Mali volunteers with the Sporting Team at the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, aiming to inspire others to give sport a go, showing other kids with disabilities what can be achieved with hard work and confidence.
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