James Turner (parathlete)
![]() James Turner in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | James Michael Apsley Turner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Sydney, New South Wales | 22 May 1996||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | T36 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 100m, 400m (Previously 800m, 200m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Iryna Dvoskina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
James Michael Apsley Turner, OAM (born 22 May 1996) is an Australian Paralympic athlete and soccer player with cerebral palsy. He has represented Australia as part of the Australia Paralympic soccer team, the ParaRoos, and was its player of the year in 2013. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, he won the Men's 800m T36 in a world record time of 2:02.39.[1] He won a gold and silver medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.[2] At the World Para Athletics Championships from 2017 to 2023, he has won 7 gold medals.
Personal
[edit]James Turner was born on 22 May 1996 in Sydney, New South Wales. He has cerebral palsy. He grew up in Diamond Beach, New South Wales.[3] In 2015, he commenced a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wollongong.[4] He has since moved to Canberra and commenced a Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science at the University of Canberra.
Football
[edit]Turner played 7-a-side soccer as a midfielder for New South Wales starting in 2009, and for the Australian national 7-a-side team, the Pararoos, in 2012.[4] By November 2013, he had 16 caps, and was named Paralympic Football Player of the Year at the 2013 FFA Australian Football Awards night on 13 November 2013. The head coach of the Pararoos, Paul Brown, said that "James has pace to burn and he gets forward on the overlap to worry defenders in their third. He has the potential to be one of the best players that Australia has ever produced if he stays on the path that he is at present".[5] Unfortunately for the Pararoos, ranked tenth in the world, in July 2014 the Australian Sports Commission cut funding for the 7-a-side soccer program on the grounds that the team was unlikely to make the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[6] After a public outcry, the team was revived with a new funding model in 2015.[7] Despite the fundraising efforts, the Pararoos failed to qualify for Rio.[8]
Athletics
[edit]Turner started with Forster-Tuncurry Athletics club as an eight-year-old and at the age of 15 joined the Hunter Academy of Sport AWD middle-distance running program.[3] In 2015, Turner turned his talents to back athletics on the encouragement of Athletics Australia,[3] where he is classified as a T36 athlete. He was coached first by Marie Kay and from 2016 by Brett Robinson in Wollongong, New South Wales.[4] At the Australian Athletics Championships in March 2016, he ran the 800m in 2:08.90, which was a Paralympic qualifier.[9] In the IPC Grand Prix in Canberra February, he had posted an even faster time of 2.08.8.[4][10] In August 2016, it was announced that had been selected to represent Australia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro in the 800m event.[11] He was ranked number two in the world in this event in his classification.[12]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/28/Turner_400m_gold_Tokyo_MM_edit.jpg/220px-Turner_400m_gold_Tokyo_MM_edit.jpg)
At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Turner won the Men's 800m T36 in a world record time of 2:02.39.[1] In December 2016, he was named Australian Paralympic Rookie of the Year.[13]
At the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, Turner won three gold medals – Men's 200m T36 (world record time 24.09 (−0.4)), Men's 400m T36 and Men's 800m T36.[14][15][16] After the London 2017 World Para-Athletics Championships, Turner moved to Canberra to be coached by Iryna Dvoskina at the Australian Institute Of Sport.
Turner's Rio Paralympics gold medal event, the 800m, is not on the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics program. As a result, he has changed to short distances – currently the 100m and 400m.[17]
At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, Turner ran 11.72 and broke the world record in winning the Men's 100m T36 and followed up with gold in the Men's 400m T46 in a world record time of 51.71.[18][19]
Turner competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo.[20] He won gold in the Men's 400 metres T36, setting a new games record with a time of 52.80. He also won silver in the Men's 100 m T36 having qualified first in his heat.[2]
At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, Turner won gold medals in the Men's 100m and 400m T46 events.[21]
Turner has been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, Paris,France - his third Games. [22] In the lead up the 2024 Paralympics, he won the silver medal in the Men's 400m T46 at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships, in Kobe, Japan.[23]
Recognition
[edit]- 2016 – Athletics Australia - Male Para-athlete of the Year.[24]
- 2017 – Medal of the Order of Australia in 2017.[25]
- 2017 – Athletics Australia - Male Para-athlete of the Year.[26]
- 2019 – Athletics Australia - Male Para-athlete of the Year.[27]
- 2021 - CBR Sports Awards - Athlete of the Year - Para Sport
- 2023 - AIS Sport Performance Awards - Male Para-Athlete of the Year;[28] Athletics Australia - Russell Short Award for Male Para Athlete of the Year[29]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "James Turner". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Australian Paralympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
- ^ a b c "Athletics provides Rio lifeline for Para footballer". Athletics NSW website. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d "James Turner". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
- ^ "Turner wins Pararoo Football Player of the Year". Football New South Wales. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ Damjanovic, Dijana (15 July 2014). "Rio 2016 Paralympics: Australia's Pararoos offside without government funding". Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ "Pararoos are go". Football Australia. 18 March 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ "Pararoos battle heroically but miss out on Rio". 3 July 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ "#AAC16". Athletics Australia. 31 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^ "Isis Holt smashes 200m world record at Canberra Grand Prix". International Paralympic Committee. 7 February 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ "Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 2 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- ^ McDonald, Mick (10 August 2016). "Turner targets gold in Rio". Great Lakes Advocate. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
- ^ "Six inducted into the Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame". Australian Paralympic Committee. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
- ^ Ryner, Sascha. "Reardon and Turner crowned kings of the track". Athletics Australia News, 18 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
- ^ Ryner, Sascha. "Photo decider sees O'Hanlon reclaim glory". Athletics Australia News. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ^ Ryner, Sascha. "Three from three for Turner as Team Australia finish with 28 medals". Athletics Australia News, 24 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "James Turner". Athletics Australia website. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
- ^ "World Para Athletics Championships Dubai – Day 4 Recap". Athletics Australia. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
- ^ "World Para Athletics Championships Dubai – Day 8 Recap". Athletics Australia. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
- ^ "Para-athletics Stars Perris and Turner Secure Their Paralympic Passage to Tokyo". Paralympics Australia. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ^ "Turner Lights Fuse as four Australians earn Paris Podium". Athletics Australia. 16 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
- ^ "Experience And Youth Combine For Paris Games | Paralympics Australia". www.paralympic.org.au. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
- ^ Australia, Athletics. "Turner finds silver lining with 11th global medal". www.athletics.com.au. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Congrats James! Paralympic gold medallist and world record holder @Jimmy_T36 has been announced as Male Para-Athlete of Year 2016". Athletics Australia Twitter.
- ^ "OAM Final Media Notes (S-Z)" (PDF). Governor General of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
- ^ "Our best athletes honoured at Athletics Australia Gala Dinner". Athletics Australia website. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ "Athletics Australia Awards – 2019 Season Winners". Athletics Australia. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ Commission, Australian Sports Commission; jurisdiction=Commonwealth of Australia; corporateName=Australian Sports. "Swimming makes a big splash at AIS Performance Awards". Australian Sports Commission. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Australia, Athletics. "World Champion Nina Kennedy receives top honour for 2023 Athletics Australia Awards". www.athletics.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
External links
[edit]- James Turner at Paralympics Australia
- James Turner at the International Paralympic Committee
- James Turner at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)
- Athletics Australia Biography
- Athletics Australia Results
- Australia at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
- Living people
- 1996 births
- Paralympic athletes for Australia
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic gold medalists for Australia
- Paralympic silver medalists for Australia
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
- Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
- World record holders in para-athletics
- Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships
- World Para Athletics Championships winners
- Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Australian male sprinters
- Australian male middle-distance runners
- Athletes from Sydney
- Sportsmen from New South Wales