Daniel
Kirk

A promising ruckman for the Glenelg Tigers in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), Daniel Kirk was 30 when he suffered a permanent and debilitating ankle injury that ended his football career.

He compressed his right ankle and cartilage after landing on a stiff leg, and endured six operations over two years to try to repair the damage. While Daniel’s immediate plan was to work towards a return to the SANFL, but ongoing joint limitation and pain under load meant that it was not long before he appeared on the radar of Paralympics Australia’s legendary talent identification specialist, three-time Paralympian Tim Matthews. Even to an untrained eye, Daniel’s potential was apparent, and he was placed on the Para-athletics fast track in 2015.

After being overlooked for selection to the Australian Paralympic Team for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Daniel made his international debut in 2017 at the World Para-athletics Championships in London, England. He placed fifth in the men’s shot put F44 and seventh in the men’s discus throw F44, but as impressive as these results were for an athlete on debut, for Daniel, with so many near misses in sport, the opportunity to represent Australia at all was second to none.

Off the athletics field and into another, Daniel is a sports scientist by trade, and holds a Bachelor of Human Movement and Health Studies from the University of South Australia.