Sam Carter’s unrelenting motivation and determination to compete at the Paralympic Games makes him one of wheelchair racing’s most promising youngsters.

Born with spina bifida, the Toowoomba athlete has already had a successful career in junior athletic competitions and is excited about making the transition into elite international competition. Sam competed at the 2009 Junior Athletics World Championships where he won gold in the U20 100m. Most recently, he made his first appearance in the senior national team at the 2011 IPC World Championships in Christchurch, racing in the 100m, 200m and 400m.

Competing in the strong T54 class, Sam competes against some of the world’s most esteemed wheelchair racers including Britain’s David Weir and Switzerland’s “silver bullet” Marcel Hug. Sam is humbled by the chance to compete against such iconic Paralympic athletes, having modelled his own technique and looking up to many of them throughout his career.

Always active, Sam was a keen swimmer and wheelchair basketball player until he attended a come and try day held by Queensland Sporting Wheelies in 2001. There he met dual-Paralympian Geoff Trappett who won gold in Sam’s pet event the T54 100m and decided to throw himself into wheelchair racing.

Sam balances the intensity of training with studying law at the University of Southern Queensland and also spends time with friends and playing the guitar to relax.