Daniel "Dan' Michel (born 18 August 1995) is an Australian

boccia Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes w ...

player. He represented Australia at the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

and

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

. He won the bronze medal in the Mixed B3 at the Tokyo Paralympics. He won two gold medals at the 2022 World Championships.

Early life

Michel was born on 18 August 1995 in the eastern Sydney suburb of

Maroubra, New South Wales Maroubra ( ) is a beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government area ...

, before his family relocated to the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...

in the early 2000s. His mother is of Dutch origin, having been born in The Netherlands and immigrating to Australia in the early 1990s, whilst his father is Australian. He was born with

spinal muscular atrophy Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common geneti ...

which means he has minimal movement and strength throughout his body. Daniel attended

Heathcote High School Heathcote High School, established in 1960, is set in grounds near the Royal National Park on the southern side of Sydney, Australia. It is a Government comprehensive co-educational high school. Parliamentary mentions Geoff Dodds In a debate ...

and graduated in 2013.

Boccia

Michel was introduced to boccia as a 15 year old through a Muscular Dystrophy NSW camp. He is classified as a BC3 athlete. He came third in his first junior titles and this gave him the encouragement to increase his training. This led to him winning the junior title at his second attempt. Michel was then selected in an

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

Paralympic Preparation Program for the Rio Games. His first international competition was at the 2013 Asia and Oceania Championships where he finished fifth and attained a world ranking of 35. At the 2014 World Championships in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, he finished 36th. He finished sixth at the 2016 Boccia Individual World Championships. In 2016, he was a

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high-performance-sports training institute in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides coaching, performance support, and daily training environments to help t ...

scholarship holder and is coached by Australian head coach Ken Halliday. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, becoming the first Australian player selected to compete at the Paralympics since 2000. 010921 Michel McClure celebrate Tokyo KM edit

010921 Michel McClure celebrate Tokyo KM edit

Michel on his Rio Paralympics selection stated" At the Rio Games, Michel won his first pool match in the Mixed individual BC3 but lost his second and did not advance. Michel won the bronze medal in the Individual BC3 at the 2018 World Championships,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He teamed with Spencer Cotie and Cal Simpson to win the silver medal in Mixed Pairs BC3. As of February 2020, Michel is a 4 × World Open champion and has a world ranking of 4. At the

, Michel won two of his three Pool Matches and qualified for the Quarterfinals. Here he beat Hansoo Kim of Korea 8–0. In the semifinals he lost to Adam Peska of the Czech Republic 3–4. Michel went on to beat Scott McCowan of Great Britain 6–1 in the bronze medal playoff. By doing so, Michel won Australia's first individual medal for boccia by winning the bronze medal in the Mixed BC3. Australia's previous boccia medal was in the Pairs C1 at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. He teamed with Spencer Cotie and Jamieson Leeson in the Mixed Pairs BC3, where they won 2 and lost 2 matches but failed to qualify for the quarter-finals. His ramp assistant was Ashlee McClure. Michel won the two gold medals at the 2022 World Championships in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

- Men's BC3 and Mixed Pairs BC3 with Jamieson Leeson. He defeated José Gonçalves 5–1 in the final of the Men's BC3. He competed at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

in Paris with his ramp assistant Ash Maddern. He won silver medal in the Men's BC3, Australia's best ever performance in boccia. Michel and Jamieson Leeson lost in the Mixed pairs BC3 quarter-finals.

Recognition

In 2023, Michel with Jamieson Leeson was awarded the Sport NSW Team of the Year with a Disability, and Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards Team of the Year.

References

External links

* *
Boccia Australia Athlete Story

Boccia Australia Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Daniel 1995 births Living people Boccia players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic boccia players for Australia Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia People with muscular dystrophy Sportspeople from Sydney People with spinal muscular atrophy