With a career spanning four Paralympic Games across two sports, Richard Nicholson is a jack of all trades. First beginning his sporting career in archery, at the request of a high school PE teacher he later trained and competed in mainstream gymnastics, in which he excelled.

After several years, Richard took up powerlifting, where he succeeded both nationally and internationally. He won international medals at European Championships, Commonwealth Games and a silver medal at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, where he became the only Australian to bench press over three times his bodyweight.

In 2002, after eight years of powerlifting, Richard took his sporting ability to the track. At the Athens 2004 Paralympics, he won a silver medal in the 4x100m relay and broke the current Australian record. After recovering from a serious crash in the 2004 Canberra Marathon, he competed in New Zealand, Korea, Switzerland and the famous New …

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Date of birth
30 June 1970
Sport
Para-athletics
Past Paralympic Games

Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008

Impairment
Physical Impairment – Paraplegia
How acquired
Illness
Residence
Melba, ACT
Occupation
Sports consultant at AIS
Started competing
1998
First competed for Australia
2003
Sport career highlights

Silver medal in powerlifting at Sydney 2000

Greatest sporting moments

Sitting in the Birds Nest watching Kurt Fearnley win the marathon

Heroes/role models

Steve Waugh

Disciplines

  • Sport: Para-athletics Discipline: 100m Classification: T54
  • Sport: Para-athletics Discipline: 400m Classification: T54
  • Sport: Para-athletics Discipline: Marathon Classification: T54

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