Chris Mullins’ life is full of fairytales. When he walked into his first class of his nursing degree, he found he was the only male in a room full of young ladies and when he walked into Beijing’s Bird’s Nest as part of the 4x100m relay team at his first Paralympic Games, 44 seconds later he found himself a gold medalist and world record holder.

Coming from a sporting and competitive family, Chris has a steely determination to win. Described as a fun-loving larrikin, Chris was born with cerebral palsy and competed internationally for the first time at the 2006 IPC World Championships where he won gold in the 4x400m relay. In 2008, as well as earning the relay gold, he finished sixth in the 400m after only training for ten weeks in the lead up to the Beijing Games.

He did, however, experience a tumultuous moment in Beijing. While supporting teammate Brad Scott, who had just won silver in the 800m, Chris attempted to pass an Australian flag to Brad, only to be tackled and pinned down by security. They had wrongly feared that Chris was a terrorist threat, resulting in a memorable incident.

The Victorian Institute of Sport athlete is coached by Jeff Hawkins, a person Chris described as “a father figure.” He finds Jeff’s supportive and passionate demeanor beneficial in both training and competing. Apart from his Beijing gold medal, Chris’ highlights reel includes victory in the 2007 Paralympic Invitation at the Stawell Gift and a bronze medal in the 400m at the 2010 National Titles.

While he certainly does put the hard yards in on the training track, Chris does make sure he eats KFC the night prior to competing. As an avid Aussie Rules follower, he is inspired by Essendon AFL coach James Hird’s nature on and off the field.

Winning his first medal at his first Paralympic Games with a group of teammates he loves was the greatest moment of his sporting career and is a feeling he wants to experience again. “Once you go to one Paralympic Games, you want to go to more. London is definitely on the radar.” Once he has wound up his Paralympics aspirations, Chris has plans to work in a nurse management role.