Ten years after he arrived in Australia as a refugee, Abebe Fekadu has earned the chance to compete for his new homeland at the Paralympic Games.
Fekadu was today named in the 2008 Australian Paralympic Team, after the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) announced the Powerlifting team to take on the world at the Beijing Paralympic Games in September.
The 38-year-old joins Perth athlete Darren Gardiner and Canberra’s Deahnne McIntyre in the Australian Powerlifting Team, both are former Paralympic medalists.
Now based in Brisbane, Fekadu arrived in Australia as an asylum seeker from Ethiopia in 1998, after his back was broken in a high speed chase trying to escape persecution.
With his injuries resulting in paraplegia, Fekadu showed overwhelming toughness and spirit in his recovery, developing into one of Australia’s most promising powerlifters.
After gaining Australian citizenship in May 2007, he won gold at the 2007 Arafura Games in Darwin, crying with happiness when the Australian flag was raised and the national anthem played.
And after he was today named alongside Gardner and McIntyre, Fekadu admits the opportunity to compete for his new country at the Paralympics is inspiring.
“I’m very excited. I have waited a long time to get this chance,” Fekadu said.
“I’m very proud to be part of the Australian Paralympic team. It is great to be an Australian citizen and I can’t wait to compete for my country at the Paralympics.
“It is very important for me to do my best at the Paralympics, I want to show the world what it means to me to be Australian.
“It’s a great country where people from many countries come here to live together peacefully. I want to do my very best.”
Australia has won 16 Powerlifting medals – three gold, seven silver and six bronze, since it was introduced as a Paralympic Sport in 1988, a tally Australian Paralympic Committee CEO Darren Peters hopes can grow in Beijing.