It only takes a spark to light the fire of a Paralympic dream in a young athlete. But it takes hard work and a supportive community to fan the flames.
For Abby Craswell, the spark that started it all was watching athletes like Madison de Rozario at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. There was no turning back from there.
Abby transitioned from gymnastics – which she’d begun as a sport to improve her coordination – to Para-athletics in 2015. The 100m T36 sprinter progressed through school and local competitions, before making her debut Nationals at age 11 that year.
With the support of her dad and coach, Andrew Craswell, and the Queensland Academy of Sport, Abby now works to a busy weekly training schedule and is determined to keep improving. Her preparation also includes pre-competition rituals. This looks like listening to her favourite music and eating some all-important dark chocolate.
Abby first represented Australia in 2022 at the Oceania Championships, which she quotes as a career highlight. Showing great promise, she was selected as a developing athlete for the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships. She snagged sixth in the T36 100m and eighth in the T36 200m.
Abby’s Paralympic debut in Paris 2024 saw her place fourth in her T36 100m heat with a time of 15.28.
Joining a contingent of both seasoned and developing athletes at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, she placed seventh overall in the T36 100m. As of 2025, Abby also holds all the Australian long jump records in the under-16 to open T36 classification.
Abby is currently balancing sport with a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours) at Griffith University, and said “It’s a good set up… I have to plan it out to the minute to make sure everything fits in.”
The sport-life balance of an elite athlete is always a juggling act, but as Abby proves, when you’ve got the dream to chase, you make it work.
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