Rheed McCracken

Having only started wheelchair racing two years before making his Paralympic debut, two-time Paralympian Rheed McCracken is on track to become a legend of his sport.

Although he was always determined to pursue a career in Para-athletics, it was a chance meeting with Channel 7 personality David ‘Kochi’ Koch that propelled Rheed into Paralympic stardom. Seated next to Kochi on a plane, the two struck up a conversation about Paralympic wheelchair racing great Kurt Fearnley, and Kochi, who has known Kurt for years, offered Rheed the opportunity of a lifetime when he challenged him to compete against Kurt in a wheelchair race in Sydney.

It was not long after that Rheed had his first taste of international competition, flying to Sharjah, UAE, for the 2011 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation World Games, where he won a grand total five medals – one gold, four silver. More importantly, however, he tossed his helmet into the ring for selection to the 2012 Australian Paralympic Team.

At the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Rheed exceeded all expectations, returning home with silver in the men’s 100m T34 and bronze in the men’s 200m T34. He was named Paralympics Australia’s Junior Athlete of the Year alongside Para-swimmer Maddison Elliott.

He defended his silver in the men’s 100m T34 at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, and won silver and bronze at the 2017 World Para-athletics Championships. Fresh off another silver from the 2019 world titles, he is now among the Australian Para-athletics team’s top contenders for gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. But for Rheed, success is so much more than winning gold – what’s most important is to give every race a “red hot crack”.