A career in sport was always on the cards for wheelchair rugby player Andrew Edmondson, who had only just accepted a scholarship to play rugby union at an elite private school in Sydney, NSW, when he broke his neck in a bodysurfing accident at Coogee Beach.
Although it was difficult for Andrew, who was only 13 at the time, to come to terms with having incomplete quadriplegia, it did not take him long to realise his dream of representing Australia was still within reach. In 2004, he contacted Paralympics Australia, and over the next 10 years, built a case for himself as a future star of the Australian wheelchair rugby team, the Steelers.
Andrew made his international debut in 2014 and his Paralympic debut two years later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the Steelers became the first team in wheelchair rugby history to win consecutive Paralympic gold medals and …
Read MoreA career in sport was always on the cards for wheelchair rugby player Andrew Edmondson, who had only just accepted a scholarship to play rugby union at an elite private school in Sydney, NSW, when he broke his neck in a bodysurfing accident at Coogee Beach.
Although it was difficult for Andrew, who was only 13 at the time, to come to terms with having incomplete quadriplegia, it did not take him long to realise his dream of representing Australia was still within reach. In 2004, he contacted Paralympics Australia, and over the next 10 years, built a case for himself as a future star of the Australian wheelchair rugby team, the Steelers.
Andrew made his international debut in 2014 and his Paralympic debut two years later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the Steelers became the first team in wheelchair rugby history to win consecutive Paralympic gold medals and a World Championship title in a four-year period, defeating the USA 59-58 in a double-overtime thriller.
However, all good things must come to an end, and in 2018, it was the Steelers’ six-year reign at major tournaments. Despite an unbeaten run to the gold medal match and a home-court advantage, they made an uncharacteristic and decisive error with 90 seconds to play to fall to Japan 62-61 at the 2018 International Wheelchair Rugby Federation Wheelchair Rugby World Championship in Sydney, NSW.
At his second Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020, The Steelers would go on to just miss out on a medal when they lost to Japan 52-60 in the bronze medal game. The fourth place finished ended the team’s nine-year reign as Paralympic champions, and it was the first time in 17 years that the team didn’t win a medal.
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