As a young girl, Meica Horsburgh (nee Christensen) threw herself into a range of sports and knew that she would one day represent Australia on the world stage. However, it wasn’t until 2004 that she found the sport that was going to take her the distance.
Meica was first introduced to goalball as a child through her brother and sister, so it comes to a surprise to many that she only considered participating in the sport in high school. Once she did, her skills soon caught the attention of a former Australian player.
Not long after she joined the Queensland state team and, playing alongside some of the country’s strongest players, Meica fine-tuned her skills and was invited to train with the Australian women’s squad.
In 2004 she made her international debut and set herself the goal of qualifying for the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. However, the Australian team did not qualify until the London 2012 Games, where the Aussie Belles, with team captain Meica, lost all four preliminary matches, placing fifth behind Canada, Japan, Sweden and the United States.
Originally their team wasn’t selected to compete at Rio 2016, only receiving the call-up when Russia was banned from the Games due to widespread doping. There they achieved one better than London, tying 2-2 in their match against the Ukraine. Unfortunately, the point differential saw the Australian team again place fifth behind Turkey, China, Canada and the Ukraine.
At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the Aussie Belles started their campaign with an 11-1 loss to Israel and a 6-0 loss to China but went on to win their third game against Canada 4-3, marking Australia’s first victory at a Games since Atlanta 1996. They then played the Russian Paralympic Committee, defeating the team 4-1, the biggest win in their history to progress to the quarter final match. Taking on Turkey in the quarter final, the Belles’ Tokyo campaign ended when they were defeated 10-6. After the Aussie Belles’ last game, Meica announced her retirement from the sport, closing out her 15-year goalball career.
Outside of goalball, Meica loves to water ski, travel and enjoy new experiences.
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