Brayden Davidson (SA)

Brayden Davidson carved out a name for himself in Paralympic sport when he won Australia’s first gold medal in athletics at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

In a nail-biting finish, Davidson, then 18, produced an 11cm personal best to take gold by just 1cm with a jump of 5.62m.

Born with cerebral palsy, Brayden aspired to become a Paralympic rower. When his mum told him that he wasn’t built for the sport, he attended an APC Talent Search Day in 2011 in a bid to prove her wrong, where he was encouraged to compete in swimming and athletics.

Two years later ‘Braydo’ made his international debut at the 2013 IPC World Championships in Lyon, France, where he placed fourth in long jump, achieving a personal best of 5.00m. In 2015 his 5.51m world record qualified him for the IPC World Championships in Doha, where he went one better than his 2013 campaign, winning the bronze medal.

Brayden looks to Australia’s most successful Paralympian, Adelaide boy Matt Cowdrey, and five-time Paralympic gold medallist, Evan O’Hanlon for inspiration. Brayden hopes his career takes a similar shape to Evan’s, who broke the 11-second barrier in the 100m sprint at Beijing 2008.

Before each event, Brayden sits down to analyse his competition. Obsessed with sports statistics, he researches his competitors’ times and other elements of their performance. On the track, Brayden shifts focus, looking upwards to acknowledge his late grandfather, who was the first to encourage him to take up Paralympic sport.

In 10 years’ time Brayden hopes to be a veteran of the Australian Paralympic Team and doing statistics and media work for major sporting events. He believes in the value of sharing knowledge and experience, and hopes to remain involved in Paralympic sport as a coach and mentor to emerging athletes. In 2017, he was awarded an OAM for winning gold in Rio.