13 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Powerlifting Richard Nicholson

Richard Nicholson (born 30 June 1970) is an Australian Paralympic powerlifter and athlete. He has competed at five successive Paralympic Games from the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

. At the 2000 Games, he won a silver medal in the powerlifting Men's Up to 60 kg event. In athletics, at the 2004 Athens Paralympics he won a silver medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m T53–54 event and at the

2012 London Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

a bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 m T53–54 event.

Personal

Nicholson was born on 30 June 1970 in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. At the age of four he became ill and subsequently lost the use of his legs. At the age of seven, he used a skateboard given to him by his parents to move around

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. As of 2015, he was working as a sports consultant at the

Australian Sports Commission The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government commission responsible for supporting and investing in sport in Australia. The Commission incorporates the Australian Institute of Sport. From 2018 to 2022, it was known as S ...

. In February 2016, it was announced that Nicholson was being appointed to being

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public university, public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is from Belconnen Town Centre, and from Canberra's Civic, Australian ...

's second Athlete in Residence. This position allows him the opportunity to share his experience with University of Canberra students.

Powerlifting

Nicholson's first sporting activity was archery follow by gymnastics. Nicholson noted that gymnastics gave him a strong upper body and strong work ethic, particularly through the Roman rings. He then took up powerlifting where he competed at the 1996 Atlanta Games and finished eight in the 56 kg category. He went on to win a silver medal in the 60 kg category 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 ...

. He also won a silver medal in the bench press at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games. He quit powerlifting because of the existence of doping. Ten powerlifters tested positive to drugs at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.

Athletics

Paralympic Games

After transferring to athletics, as a T54 athlete, he competed at the 2004 Athens Paralympics in five events and won a silver medal in the men's 4 × 100 m relay T53–54. He competed in four events at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics with his best placing being fourth in the men's 4 × 100 m relay T53–54. At the

, Nicholson participated in the men's 100 m T54, 400 m T54 and the men's 4 × 400 m T53/54 – winning a bronze in the 4 × 400 m.

World Championships

At the 2006

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

, he competed in five events at the 2011 World Championships ranging from 100m to the marathon but did not medal. At the 2013 World Championships, he competed in three events with his best result being fourth in the men's 4 × 400 m relay T53–54.

Commonwealth Games

He has competed in two

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, finishing fifth in the men's discus F55–56 in 2006 Games and seventh in the Men's 1500m T54 at the 2014 Games. He regularly competes in major road races in Australia including the Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race and Sydney's City to Surf where he won the Men's Wheelchair category in 2015. His main T54 competitor in Australia is

Kurt Fearnley Kurt Harry Fearnley, (born 23 March 1981) is an Australian wheelchair racer, who has won gold medals at the Paralympic Games and crawled the Kokoda Track without a wheelchair. He has a congenital disorder called sacral agenesis which prevent ...

. He has been an ACT Academy of Sport scholarship holder for nearly 2 decades. Inaugural inductee to

Sport Walk of Fame in 2022.

References

External links

* *
Richard Nicholson
at Australian Athletics Historical Results
The Richard Nicholson Story - YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Richard Living people 1970 births Paralympic powerlifters for Australia Paralympic athletes for Australia Powerlifters at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Powerlifters at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Canberra Wheelchair-category Paralympic competitors Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Australian powerlifters Australian male wheelchair racers Commonwealth Games medallists in powerlifting ACT Academy of Sport alumni Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic medalists in powerlifting University of Canberra alumni Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games