My best and worst moments with Australia’s Evan O’Hanlon

This week’s ‘Best & Worst Moments’ comes from Australia’s multiple Paralympic and world champion Evan O’Hanlon.

The 28-year-old has won individual double gold at the last two Paralympic Games and will be aiming to continue his dominance of the T38 sprints in Rio de Janeiro later this year.

My best moment

My best moment of my career so far would probably be running 10.79 in the 100m final at London 2012, and having Suzi at the finish line to be able to go and celebrate with her.

I’d already won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay in Beijing, all with world records, so there was a fair bit of pressure going in to my first event in London. I had just recently run 10.84 to become the fastest Australian Paralympian of all time, so to run 10.79 was like cementing my spot as the fastest ever.

I try and explain to people how it feels when you win - a lot for me is relief because I’ve spent so much time and energy and sacrificed other things in my life to be able to be there and do my best. Yes it feels amazing and satisfying and everything like that, but there is a big element of relief because of how much you’ve put in to it.

My worst moment

My worst moment was probably just before the 2013 World Championships when I was preparing particularly for the 400m, because I already held the 100m and 200m world records and I wanted to hold the 400m world record too.

I was preparing really well and had run just outside the world record about four weeks beforehand. I was ready to go.

Four days later I was in hospital with viral meningitis, so then I had three or four weeks of bed rest before I went to the World Championships. I still won the 100m, 200m and the 400m but I wasn’t able to go anywhere near the 400m world record, which was pretty disappointing.

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Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs)

The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.

Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.