Willing to give anything a go, Ben MacFie believes it is his focused and tenacious approach to sport that has allowed him to flourish.

Ben was encouraged to take up goalball by Terry Kenaghan, the founder of goalball in Australia, and drawn to its uniqueness, intensity and challenges as a team sport, he soon loved it.

Not a stranger to elite sport, Ben applies the mental and physical discipline he learnt as a tandem cyclist to goalball. Ben had a successful career in tandem cycling with cycling partner Ben Holmes and won gold at the 2006 Australian Para-Cycling Track Championships. Then during training for the 2006 World Championships, he had a horrifying track crash, fracturing his skull and putting his world championship dreams on hold. A year later, Ben won bronze in the tandem sprint at the 2007 Paralympic World Cup.

Ben is a bit of a thrill seeker and would spend his last 10 dollars looking for a thrill. Even his most embarrassing moment is extreme, when he crashed a jet ski close to a crowded marquee on the Brisbane River. He is also a passionate Essendon supporter, enjoys playing the guitar and listening to guitar heavy music.

Ben still has his roots in cycling and works as a development officer at Cycling Queensland. He is determined to improve the world ranking of the Australian men’s goalball team and once retired would like to give back to the sport in a voluntary or coaching capacity.