Carlee
Beatie

While most athletes make their international debuts at a World Championships or Commonwealth Games, Carlee Beattie is unlike most athletes. Instead, the now two-time Paralympic medallist represented Australia for the first time under the bright lights of the Bird’s Nest at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

Although Carlee did not win a medal in Beijing, where she contested the women’s 100m T46 and women’s 200m T46, she gained crucial international experience, and by the time the London 2012 Paralympic Games rolled around, she was ready to compete against and defeat the world’s best.

Still fresh from winning a silver and bronze medal at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, Carlee won her first Paralympic medal, a silver, in the women’s long jump F46. She came painfully close to gold, with just 0.06 centimetres standing between her and the top step of the podium.

Another silver medal followed at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, and it was a long two years before Carlee had another opportunity to win her first world title. This time, there was no letting it go.

At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, Carlee held off Yunidis Castillo (CUB) and Anna Grimaldi (NZL) in the women’s long jump T47, to win gold with a season best jump of 5.75 metres.

In 2017, Carlee suffered a tibial plateau fracture during training. She was in a brace and on crutches for two months, and had a plate in her left knee for a year, which was finally removed in April 2018. If Carlee were to be selected to the 2020 Australian Paralympic Team, it would be a comeback for the history books.