Angie Ballard

Personal At seven I was really angry and isolated. It was frightening. I wish I'd had someone to tell me it would get better, that life's not about the walking but about living your life. — Angie Ballard, 2008 in Canberra. At the age of seven, she became a (T10) paraplegic after a car accident, when her mother lost control of the car through fatigue. Following the accident, her initial hospitalisation and rehabilitation was in Canberra for three months, among elderly amputees. She attended Lyneham Primary School Her physical education teacher was one of the people who first encouraged her to participate in wheelchair sports. After her rehabilitation she tried swimming and wheelchair basketball. but wheelchair athletics soon became her passion. and she then took up an athletics scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from 1999 to 2001. , she was living in Liberty Grove, New South Wales and attending the University of Sydney studying for a Bachelor of Psychology, At the time, Dawes also coached Louise Sauvage, and on occasion the two would train together.

In 2021, she is coached by Fred Periac.

Paralympics

Ballard competed in Sydney in the 2000 Summer Paralympics but did not win any medals, placing fourth in both the 100 m and 200 m events; she was also a torch bearer, and featured in the entertainment section of the opening ceremony, where she circled the track in the air, suspended by a blimp and giant inflated angels. In preparation for the 2004 Athens Paralympics, Ballard trained six days a week At the 2004 games, she won a bronze medal in the T53 100 m, behind Tanni Grey-Thompson and Francesca Porcellato. Her goal for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics was to set a personal best, but she also had eyes on a medal. She took the year off her psychology degree to train six times a week. In the individual events, she finished fifth in the women's T53 100 m event (a race won in world record time by Huang Lisha ), seventh in the women's T53 200 m event (also won in a world record time by Huang ), seventh in the women's T53 400 m event, and led out the women's 800 m final, eventually finishing sixth. After a couple of sub-par competition results in 2011, Ballard made big changes to her diet, gloves, technique, chair position, and training regime. She entered the 2012 London Paralympics ranked world number one in both the T53 100 m and 200 m. At the games, Ballard participated in the T53 class events for 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and 800 m events. She won two silver medals in the 200 m and 400 m T53 events, and a bronze medal in the 100 m T53 event.

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she was a finalist in the women's T53 100 m, 400 m, and 800 m. She came 7th in 100 m, 7th in 400 m and 7th in 800 m. At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she finished sixth in the women's 400 m and 800 m T53 events.

World championships

At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Ballard won gold medals in the Women's 200m T53 in a championship record time of 29.33 and the Women's 400m T53. After winning the 400 m, Ballard said: "This is the one I wanted. I was so nervous coming in, you try and tell yourself that the worst thing that can happen is a loss and starting again tomorrow, but the reality is that this matters so much. I was so scared before the race, perhaps it gave me the adrenalin to get it done. I've just worked so hard for this for so long." She also won a bronze medal in the Women's 800 mm T54 behind gold medallist Madison de Rozario.

At the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England, she won the silver medals in the Women's 100 m and 200 m T53 events and finished fourth in the Women's 400 m T53 and sixth in the Women's 800 m T53 .

At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Doha, she finished sixth in the Women's 100 m T53 and Women's 400 m T53 and eight in the Women's 800 m.

At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, she finished fourth in the Women's 800m T53 and sixth in the Women's 400m T53.

In the inaugural Paralympic World Cup in Manchester in 2005, Ballard placed third in the Women's T53 100 m.

Commonwealth Games At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she finished sixth in the Women's 800m T54. She won the gold medal in the Women's 1500m T54 at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, Queensland, she won the silver medal in the Women's 1500m T54 finishing behind Madison de Rozario. She repeated her 2018 result, by winning the silver medal in Women's 1500m T54 at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, again behind de Rozario.de Rozario

Australian titles Ballard won the 100 m women's wheelchair open title in 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2008, and finished second in 2000, 2003, 2010, and 2011. In the 200 m event, she won gold in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010, silver in 2000 and 2005 and bronze in 2006. In the 400 m, she won gold in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2008 and 2010, silver in 2004 and bronze in 2002 and 2006. In the 800 m, she won gold in 1999 and 2001, silver in 2000 and 2005, and bronze in 2002 and 2004. In the 1500 m, she won gold in 2005 and 2010.

In 1999, she competed at Australia's Junior Wheelchair Nationals. She won five gold medals at those games and was named the event's Female Athlete of the Games. At the 2012 competition, Ballard set personal bests and Oceania records for the 100 m (in a time of 17.27 s), 200 m (30.12 s) and 400 m (56.89 s) events.

Long distance events Ballard also sometimes competes in longer distance events, in which the disability classifications are usually combined, so she competes against athletes in the higher T54 classification. placing 6th in the final. At the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, she won a gold medal in the 1500 m T54. She has also raced in and helped organise and 3rd in 2012. In 1998, together with Louise Sauvage, Christie Skelton, and Holly Ladmore, she completed an relay from Byron Bay to Bondi Beach, which raised $200,000 for disabled athletes.

World records 29 May 2015 at the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland – Women's 400m T53 world record with a time of 54.73 seconds. 4 June 2015 at IPC sanctioned Daniela Jutzeler Memorial Para-athletics Meet, Arbon, Switzerland – Women's 400m T53 world record with a time of 54.70 4 June 2015 at IPC sanctioned Daniela Jutzeler Memorial Para-athletics Meet, Arbon, Switzerland – Women's 800m T53 world record with a time of 1:47.48.

Advocacy and patronage Ballard has been appointed as an ambassador or advocate by a number of organisations with an interest in people with disabilities, sport, health, or exercise. In 2000, she was selected for Team MAA (Motor Accidents Authority), to discuss road trauma with other young people. In 2005, she was appointed as an ambassador for Technical Aid to the Disabled. She helped recruit volunteers, attended fundraisers, posed for photos and showed them her medal. Later that year she also visited patients at the Westmead Children's Hospital alongside a number of celebrities to help them celebrate Christmas. In 2007 Ballard was chosen as an ambassador for Walk to Work Day. She is on the board of the Wheelchair Sports Association of New South Wales.

Alongside a number of other university-affiliated athletes, Ballard attended a press conference to oppose the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism.

Recognition 1999 – ACT Academy of Sport Athlete of the year in the Disabled Category October 2014 – Awarded the Nigel C Barker Graduate Medal for Sporting Achievement by a recent graduate of the University of Sydney. 2024 – Co-captain with Curtis McGrath – Australian Team at the 2024 Paris Paralympics 2026 - Appointed as Paralympics Australia athlete representative on Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Board.