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 to 2012 Summer Paralympics. 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 a bronze medal in the Men's 4 × 400 m T53–54 event. At the age of seven, he used a skateboard given to him by his parents to move around Canberra.

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.

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. His main T54 competitor in Australia is Kurt Fearnley.