PARIS PARALYMPICS 2024: Paralympic debutant Sam Rizzo has a need for speed
Sam Rizzo may not be a household name just yet but his increasingly impressive resume puts him on the cusp of becoming one of Australia’s Paralympic stars.
The T54 wheelchair racer has the perfect chance to announce himself on the world stage as he looks to turn his undoubted potential into medals on his Paralympic debut.
There will be understandable interest in the 24-year-old, who earlier this year smashed Kurt Fearnley’s 1500m Australian record by four seconds.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Rizzo, a metal fabricator by trade, has been threatening to surge into medal contention after promising showings at last year’s world championships.
“I happened to shave a few seconds off (Fearnley’s record) and that was a pretty proud moment for me to knock off a 12-year record from one of our legends of the sport,” Rizzo told AAP.
“Hopefully I can go out there and give it my best going.
“In our sport you don’t usually peak until you’re in your 30s so there’s plenty of time for me.
“But this, (being at a Paralympics) has been a long-term dream for me since I was eight years old and to tick that box … I think it’s been a really good progression.”
Rizzo will compete in the 800m, 1500m and the 5000m, with the Victorian starting his Paralympic campaign on Friday evening (local time) in a heat of his longest distance.
The Australian has been drawn in his 5000m heat - where the five best finishers will qualify for the final - alongside Swiss athlete Marcel Hug, who set a new world record of nine minutes and 13 seconds in Dubai in February of this year.
“They’re all kind of starting to be a bit of a sprint these days because the boys are going faster and faster,” Rizzo said.
“What the race looked like from five or six years ago is very different now.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work for the 5000m recently, so I’m really excited to see how the body reacts to that in race form.
“It’s been a difficult couple of years to know when to peak with all the overseas comps but things seemed to have worked well for me.”
