Christie
Dawes

After competing internationally for more than two decades, wheelchair racer Christie Dawes has rightfully earned a reputation for being one of the fiercest competitors in the game.

She first became eligible to compete in Paralympic sport as a 10-year-old, when – just 11 months after her dad had taken his own life – she became a paraplegic in a car accident. It was a horror couple of years for Christie’s little family of three, and only through the boundless support of her mum, Roslyn, did Christie go on to make her Paralympic debut in 1996.

Seven Paralympic Games have since passed, and in that time, Christie achieved three Paralympic podiums – two silver, one bronze – and two world titles from the 1998 International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships.

And had a baby – her son, Charlie, with husband and coach Andrew Dawes. Incredibly, Christie returned to the track just two months later in stellar form, and the following year, won her only major individual medal to date, bronze in the women’s 5000m T54 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.