Ballarat’s YCW Harriers will be cheering on local wheelchair racer Sam Rizzo when he makes his Paralympic debut this weekend.
On Saturday morning, Sam will kick off his Paralympic journey, competing in the T54 5,000 metre qualifying event at 3am.
He will also compete in the men’s 1,500 metre qualifying on September 3rd and the 800 metre qualifying on the 5th.
President of the YCW Harriers, Ash Rogers, says to see him grow from when he started to where he is now has been great.
“It’s not his first rodeo out in big competitions. He’s already been to the Commonwealth Games, but obviously the pinnacle of the sport is the Olympics,” he said.
“When we found out that he was competing at three events, we couldn’t have been happier for him and the club’s been trying to do as much as we can to help promote and financially support him to get to the games.”
Sam is not the only Ballarat athlete competing at the games.
Cyclist Alana Forster will also make her Paralympic debut on Sunday night in the C5 3,000 metre individual pursuit qualifying.
