The bar was raised higher than usual for Aaron Chatman during his Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games campaign. The world record holder walked away with a silver and a bronze medal but not before enduring a bout of bad luck.

Aaron, who was born without a fully formed right arm, came down with the chicken pox days before the 2008 Games were due to begin. He was held in isolation in Hong Kong and suffered an agonising wait to see if he would be well enough to compete. Luckily he recovered and won a silver high jump medal, something he was very proud of considering he had been quite sick a week earlier. Aaron went on to win a bronze medal in a relay team made up of two sprinters Heath Francis and Stephen Wilson, a high jumper and shot putter Paul Raison.

Aaron gained the world record height for high jump by jumping 2.05m at the 2007 ACT Championships. This is the second time he has held the world record, beating his previous mark of 2.01m, which he achieved in 2006 at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Assen, Holland. Aaron describes breaking and then re-breaking the world record as some of his proudest moments, now matched by his performance in Beijing.

When he isn’t lighting up the field with his jumping skills, Aaron enjoys collecting various lights for himself. Black lights, lasers, lightning balls and lava lamps are all part of a collection that reflects what he describes as his “strange taste in décor”. He is also doing a 3D modelling and animation course. A sports fanatic, Aaron says he is partial towards “any sports” and is particularly interested in long boarding.