Paralympic Games

Mm-hmm.

Um, how did that feel, like, rolling out onto the track, the, you know, home of, of a- of Olympics and, and, and an amazing Paralympic movement? How did that feel?

Yeah, it was absolutely amazing.

I mean, it was my first Paralympics, uh, so it was a absolutely great experience.

Um, of course, I was, uh, very nervous, but, but what was also very cool and when, when I look back and remembering was that there was no pressure on me.

I mean, I was just a, a newcomer and, um, yeah, I was li- more like the, the, the hunter and not the hunted.

And now I am more the hunted, uh, athlete.

So that was the difference, and it was, uh, a lot of fun.

By the time of the first Paralympic Games, people with disabilities had already been competing in organised sports for some time.

And yet when 400 athletes from 23 countries turned up in Rome today in history in 1960, what had been a comparatively minor competition was suddenly thrust into the spotlight side by side with the Olympics itself.

Yes, it's bizarre that this event that is now considered the first Paralympics was, in fact, to give its full title, called the 9th Annual International Stoke Mandeville Games, which is a hilarious idea because Stoke Mandeville is a hospital in Buckinghamshire.

We'll explain why in a minute.

And this was the first time that what had been the Stoke Mandeville Games, which had been an annual event, started running in the same four-year cycle in the same city as the Olympics.

The Olympics had just happened in Rome.

Yeah, and the athletes competed in eight events over a week.

Some of them that you wouldn't find in the Paralympics lineup today, there was archery, there was dartchery, which was kind of a British twist on archery that involved firing at a dartboard.

And I see this as a huge win for regional

Queensland, you know, for Rockhampton to host one of the really popular events at an Olympic Games and a Paralympic Games is a huge boon for them.

And I think it's very, very well deserved.

However, I do think that the concerns that the athletes raised today around performance are valid.

It's traditionally one of our most successful Olympic sports.

And so for Rocky to be able to not only host a Olympic sport, but to be able to host real medal opportunities for Australia is such a win for regional Queensland.

And like I said, now we just need to get on with the job of delivering what is going to be the best Olympic and Paralympic Games.

And Rocky can be really proud that they're part of that now.

deliver.

And I see this as a huge win for regional Queensland, you know, for Rockhampton to host one of the really popular events at an Olympic Games and a Paralympic Games is a huge boon for them.

And I think it's very, very well deserved.

However, I do think that the concerns that the athletes raised today around performance are valid.

It's traditionally one of our most successful Olympic sports.

And so for Rocky to be able to not only host a Olympic sport, but to be able to host real medal opportunities for Australia is such a win for regional Queensland.

And like I said, now we just need to get on with the job of delivering what is going to be the best Olympic and Paralympic Games.

And Rocky can be really proud that they're part of that now.

Traveled all over the world.

Went to five Paralympic Games with that five world championships.

Went to the White House multiple times.

Very casual, like no big deal.

than what we've maybe had in the past.

With the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games approaching, questions of athlete development pathways for First Nations competitors have received increased attention.

The foundation says its role is to address the medical barriers that can interrupt training and competition schedules in the lead up to such events.

The place of the

New Caledonia's qualification follows their appearance at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Poland earlier this month.

And after months of fierce debate, the International Olympic Committee has approved rowing and canoe sprint events on Queensland's Fitzroy River for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The course on the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, home to about 500 saltwater crocodiles, has passed an independent technical assessment into its suitability.

That's your latest news and sport from RNZ Pacific.

This is Monks and Merrill.

Let's not forget the Paralympics.

Okay, they're not the draw that the regular Olympics are.

You