Timothy ("Tim") Francis Sullivan, OAM (born 16 September 1975) is an Australian Paralympic

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

231000 - Athletics track 200m T38 final Tim Sullivan gold action 2 - 3b - 2000 Sydney race photo

Personal

301000 - Athletics track Tim Sullivan gold medal - 3b - 2000 Sydney medal photo

Sullivan was born in Melbourne, Australia. When Tim was eight years old, he was riding his bike to a park with his sister and a friend when they were approached by a couple of kids. One had a broken glass bottle and was threatening them. They started to chase Sullivan with the bottle. Due to this he ran on to a road and was struck by a car. From this accident Sullivan suffered cerebral palsy. It limits his verbal communication: he speaks in tiny, fast sentences and sometimes one word answers. It has also limited the use of the right side of his body.

Career

Tim Sullivan, is an Australian

who has won ten gold medals at the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

."Aussie Paralympic athletics squad named"
, ''The Age'', 1 July 2008 This includes five gold medals at the

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was the last time that the Summer Paralympics were organized by two different Organ ...

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 ...

(T38 200m; T38 100m; T38 400m; T38 4X400m relay; T38 4X100m relay), in which he received a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

for his 'service to sport'. Tim also won four gold medals at the

2004 Summer Paralympics The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, in the T38 100m, 200m and 400m events, and as a member of the men's 4 × 100 m Relay team."Sullivan Wins Prestigious Award Down Under"
, International Paralympic Committee, 1 November 2004 In addition to the gold medals won, Sullivan also set world records in the 100m, 200m and 4 × 100 m relay at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games. At the conclusion of the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Tim was ranked 1st overall among athletes in his competitions. Tim represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

again at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

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 ...

, where he won a gold medal in the men's 4 × 100 m T35–38 and also at the

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 ...

in London. He held the Australian record for the highest gold medal count until being surpassed by Matthew Cowdrey in 2012. Tim did not medal at the 2012 Games.

Recognition

In 2000, Sullivan was named Male Athlete of the Year by the Australian Paralympic Committee. In the same year, Sullivan also received the Victorian Institute of Sport's Award of Excellence. In October 2004, he was named "Paralympian of the Year" by the Australian Paralympic Committee. In 2004, Sullivan was also awarded the Victorian Institute of Sport's ''Athlete With a Disability'' award.

References

External links

Timothy Sullivan
at Australian Athletics Historical Results {{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Tim 1975 births Living people Paralympic athletes for Australia 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 gold medalists for Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Australian male sprinters Athletes from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state)

Personal

Career

Recognition

See also

References

External links