Julie Elizabeth Russell (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Mitchell) (born 20 August 1951) is an Australian Paralympic athlete,

powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...

and

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

er.

Personal

Russell was born on 20 August 1951 in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. As a toddler, she contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

, which caused

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

in her lower body. During her primary school years, Russell had to have

calipers Calipers or callipers are an instrument used to measure the linear dimensions of an object or hole; namely, the length, width, thickness, diameter or depth of an object or hole. The word "caliper" comes from a corrupt form of caliber. Many ty ...

fitted and needed crutches for support. Russell graduated from university with a biology degree and began working at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the biochemistry department for 5 years before she became involved in sports. After graduating, she became involved in the Adelaide Archery Club and through that became aware of wheelchair sports. In 2006, she was working for CRS Australia, an Australian Government rehabilitation agency. She has been married to Paralympic athlete, coach, and administrator Eric Russell since 1979. The pair met in 1977 for the first time when Eric came to Adelaide for the first National Basketball Titles. Julie and Eric were then introduced officially in 1978 at the Regional Games in

Broken Hill Broken Hill is a city in the Far West (New South Wales), far west region of outback New South Wales, Australia. An inland mining city, it is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Hi ...

Career

Russell won four gold medals, a silver and a bronze in athletics and archery at the 1979 Stoke Mandeville Paraplegic World Games, her first international competitive event. At the 1980 Arnhem Games, she won a silver medal in the Women's Pentathlon 3 event. At the 1984 New York/Stoke-Mandeville Games, she won a silver medal in the Women's Marathon 3 event and a bronze medal in the Women's Pentathlon 3 event. She won three silver medals at the 1988 Seoul Games, in the Women's 4 × 400 m Relay 2–6, Women's Pentathlon 3 and Women's Shot Put 3 events, and two bronze medals in the Women's Discus 3 and Women's Javelin 3 events. She was a member of the

Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team The Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team is the women's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Gliders. The team hasn't won a gold medal for Australia since i ...

in the 1992 Barcelona Games. She was selected to compete in basketball at the 1992 Games not purely for her skills in basketball but also as an experienced athlete who could act as a role model and a calming influence on the younger athletes of the team. Russell was selected as the Women's Representative for Weightlifting after a meeting in 1984. She won a gold medal at the 1994

FESPIC Games The FESPIC Games or the Far East and South Pacific Games for the Disabled, was a multi-sport event in Asia and the South Pacific region which is considered to be a precursor to the Asian Para Games, as two of its edition games in 1999 (7th) and ...

in Beijing in the +82.5 kg event. At the IPC Powerlifting World Championships, she won a silver medal in 1998 in the Women's +82.5 kg event. At the European Powerlifting Championships, she won a silver medal in 1998 in the Women's +82.5 kg event and a gold medal in 1999 in the Women's +82.5 kg event. She competed in powerlifting at the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, the first Paralympics in which women could compete in the sport, after lobbying for the inclusion of women's powerlifting in the Paralympics for the past fourteen years; she came seventh in the women's powerlifting event. She was coached in powerlifting by Ray Epstein. She received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

in 2000 for "outstanding contribution to Paralympic Powerlifting". She has refereed powerlifting events at the Paralympics and Commonwealth Games since the 2004 Athens Paralympics.

References