Australia’s largest-ever team for an overseas Paralympic Games is being backed by record support at home, including investment and innovation from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
Chief Executive of the AIS, Peter Conde said the Institute had increased its investment in Paralympic sport by more than 40 per cent over the past decade and 86 per cent of the Australian Paralympic team competing in Tokyo had received direct athlete grants from the AIS during the five-year build-up to the Games.
Mr Conde said, however, the support of the AIS to Paralympic sport was not limited to financial grants.
“It is also represented through innovation and technology, medicine and sport science, wellbeing and community engagement, coaching and leadership, as well as high-performance facilities,” Mr Conde said.
“There are dedicated Para-swimming and Para-athletic squads based full-time at the AIS and despite COVID-19 restrictions, the AIS has hosted 34 Paralympic sport camps over the past 12 months.”
He said the AIS Applied Technology and Innovation team had been instrumental in creating a range of customised services and equipment.
“Customised-seats for our wheelchair basketballers and rowers, 3D-printed gloves for our wheelchair athletes, specialised apparatus for our archers and enhancements to prostheses are just some of the innovations we have made to support our Aussie Paralympians,” Mr Conde said.
Chair of the Australian Sports Commission, Josephine Sukkar said the lead up to these Paralympic Games has been unlike any other.
“However, we can all be inspired by the persistence, resilience and dedication our athletes have shown to overcome the challenges these Games have thrown up, and to be ready to compete in Tokyo,” Ms Sukkar said.
The Paralympic team is made up of 179 athletes competing across 18 sports, including in the debut disciplines of Para-taekwondo and Para-badminton.