Things were a lot different when Australia’s most successful female Paralympian, Ellie Cole, began her sports career. Her experiences highlight the significant progress that has been made for athletes with a disability.
A trailblazer in para-swimming, Cole’s career spanned over 16 years, she competed in four Paralympic Games, starting with Beijing in 2008 and concluding with Tokyo in 2020. Over this period, she amassed an incredible 17 Paralympic medals, including six golds, making her Australia’s most decorated female Paralympian. She also became a powerful advocate for athletes with disabilities, sharing her personal story and inspiring countless others to pursue their goals.
In her speech today at the Sydney Disability Expo, she reflected on her journey and the changes she has witnessed. She spoke about the stark differences between para- and able-bodied sports early in her career.
Key Moments from the Speech
- “Paralympic events back in the early 2000s were usually being tucked on to the beginning or the end of sporting programs. Paralympians were never really celebrated around the city… never really mentioned in any kind of promotional material and definitely did not have any sponsors of any kind.”
- “I remember learning about the funding model that Olympic athletes would be paid close to about $60,000 a year, and then sponsorship money that could be in hundreds of thousands of dollars, and Paralympic athletes received nothing at all.”
- “I remember on the Australian Paralympic swim team, I found my people… those that made me feel welcome. And because of this, I would then continue to swim on for Australia for another 16 years.”
- “We began to show the world that we don’t only have to be defined by things that may have happened to us or things that might make us a little different, but our disabilities are these incredible things. They’re part of who we are, not everything that we are.”
- “It was moments like racing in front of a home crowd at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which is the only sporting event where Paralympic athletes and Olympic athletes compete in an integrated program, and immediately after my races, I would have able-bodied kids meeting me at the gates, asking how they could become a Paralympian when they’re older.”
At today’s speech she also spoke about her current role, working in support of disability employment as an ambassador for APM Employment Services,
Attending the Sydney Disability Expo this year was a very different experience for me. Last year, I was a volunteer, helping to check people in at the main entrance. This year, however, I attended in my capacity as a person with a physical disability, which gave me a new perspective on the event and the many services on offer. It was a day of valuable discovery and connection.
I also caught up with someone I had previously met at a “Limbs for Life” support group gathering in Sydney.
Overall, a very pleasant and informative day.
I suppose like aged care and other areas of disability care, there isn’t a one stop shop to go to for services, equipment and help. There can be help and assistance available, but it is not necessarily obvious to those who need it.
In the last two years, I’ve realized that the transition from thinking you know everything to understanding there’s so much to learn is a profound one. I always thought I was prepared for getting older, but I never factored in disability. So, every day is a new lesson.