Raissa Martin

Raissa competed in athletics at local and state level from the age of nine through to the end of high school. She was aware of goalball, but didn’t have access to an accessible team sport in my regional area, around Hervey Bay. She says she knew from a very young age that she wanted to become a Paralympian, “it was only ever a matter of how and when” – and athletics gave her the grounding to understand the demands of training and perseverance.

After taking some time away to complete my business degree, Raissa started playing goalball in 2012 to give herself an outlet after four years away from any competition. She found she enjoyed the sport and was thrilled to be offered a place in the national squad in 2013. That led to Raissa playing her first game for Australia in 2015 at the IBSA World Games. In 2016, Raissa made her Paralympic debut in Rio, which she described as “the opportunity of a lifetime” and one she wants to back up in Tokyo.

Raissa was selected to play as part of Aussie Belles for her second Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020. The team opened their Tokyo campaign with loses to Israel (11-0) and China (6-0). However, a thrilling victory over Canada (4-3) marked the first Australian goalball win since Atlanta 1996. The team then took on the Russian Paralympic Committee to mark the biggest win in their history, winning 4-1. The Belles’ Tokyo campaign ended when they were defeated 10-6 by Turkey in the quarter final.

As part of Raissa’s cross training, she enjoys indoor rock climbing, which is highly ironic, she says, due to her complete colour blindness. Other favourite outdoor activities include hiking and camping. On lazy days, Raissa loves nothing more than to hunker down and get into some serious board gaming with friends.