Sam Walker

To his family and friends, Sam Walker is known as ‘Bang’.

As in, ‘BANG! And he’s away!’

The international Para-athletics community was first introduced to ‘Bang’ in 2017, when he represented Australia at the World Para-athletics Junior Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland. Sam placed second in the long jump F35-38 and third in his pet event, the 100m dash, and made his senior debut the following year at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, QLD.

An international debut is a big deal for any athlete, but to do so at 15 is an absolutely mammoth achievement, and one which Sam is immensely proud of. It was a baptism of fire for the young Tasmanian, who more than held his own, clocking 11.8 in the men’s 100m T38 to finish in sixth place, ahead of two-time Paralympian Rhys Jones (WAL) in seventh and Amar-Mazigh Aichoun (ENG) in eighth.

Sam, who only began competing in Para-athletics five years ago, is now focussed on becoming the fastest 100m T38 sprinter in the world. As a first step, he made his senior World Championships debut last November in Dubai, UAE, where he placed fourth in his 100m heat and ninth in his shot put final. Incredible as these results were for the 17-year-old, even more remarkable was the fact that Sam was gifted just a 10-minute reprieve post the 100m before he had to line up again for the shot put. He will now devote all his energy to selection to the 2020 Australian Paralympic Team.

For Sam, becoming a Paralympian would represent all of his hard work, dedication and training finally paying off. Not only that, but he would relish the opportunity to compete against and learn from some of the greatest Paralympians in the world – that is, before becoming one himself.