Milly Marshall-Kirkwood on how adversity inspires Paralympic aspirations in seated throwing
At 17, Milly Marshall-Kirkwood is already setting the standard in seated throwing and has her sights set on the World Para Athletics Championships and the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
Her life has been full of challenges from the onset.
As a toddler, she was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, a genetic
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Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Initiative ‘fantastic' chance to learn
John Marrable is always looking for ways to improve. The Dunedin para athlete recently wrapped up his time as part of the second intake for the para sport collective, a Paralympics New Zealand initiative to provide more support for athletes. The collective involved three in-person camps and monthly Zoom sessions over the past year, with topics including skills, nutrition, mental resilience, recovery and injuries. A range of sports, including shooting, taekwondo, equestrian, snowboarding and swimming were covered. Marrable was one of three table tennis players among the cohort, and each athlete worked through personalised performance programmes. "I'm grateful to Table Tennis New Zealand for putting my name forward to be part of the para sport collective and also the New Zealand coach John Tuki,"Marrable said. "They've been really good support." Marrable, who has been involved in para sport since an accident as a child left him in a wheelchair, relished being part of the collective and listening to Paralympians share their stories. "I've been involved in para sport almost ever since I had an accident, so a lot of it was great to get reinforced where I'm heading and then also up-skilled with a lot of the changes in dietary requirements or that type of thing." Programmes such as the para collective were important for all athletes but especially in para sport as there was the "added challenge of having your disability or impairment". Being able to bounce ideas off athletes who fundamentally understood what others went through, and had various different strategies for travelling with additional equipment or helping their bodies respond in different situations, was invaluable. "It was just fantastic meeting other like-minded people." Marrable is part of the New Zealand para table tennis development squad and hopes to be included in the Oceania championships in Auckland later this year. He is also a seventh dan in karate. "The two sports really go hand in hand, because through the karate you're doing your stretching, your aerobic work, plus reaction time. "Then of course with the table tennis I'm doing the ball skills and stretching." Marrable has tried his hand at countless sports through the years. He felt New Zealand had always had great representation at the Paralympics and world championships. But there had been great improvements across the board, and ParaFed Otago and the Halberg Foundation played a big role in helping get more youth involved. "As the sports improved, the athletes have had to improve and really it's people's attitude as well. "Not the athletes or the coaches... but sometimes people didn't really think that the paras were serious athletes. "I think sometimes that can affect the athlete and that's, again, knowing that the opportunities are there. "Any sport you can think of can be adapted." Dunedin was fortunate to have a good athletics programmes through Athletics New Zealand para lead Raylene Bates, and strong wheelchair rugby and table tennis programmes, he said.
NZ Herald
27-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Milly Marshall-Kirkwood on how adversity inspires Paralympic aspirations in seated throwing
At 17, Milly Marshall-Kirkwood is already setting the standard in seated throwing and has her sights set on the World Para Athletics Championships and the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics. Her life has been full of challenges from the onset. As a toddler, she was diagnosed with Marfan Syndrome, a genetic
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
High-class field vying for title of Otago's best
From snowboarding to surfing — the best of the best will be honoured at the Otago Sports Awards this year. The finalists for the awards, organised by Sport Otago, have been revealed, with the judges sifting through more than 90 nominations, showing the breadth of Otago's sporting talent. Up for sportsman of the year are kayaker Finn Butcher, freeskier Luca Harrington and Black Cap Glenn Phillips. Harrington, after starting the year as an X Games alternate, burst on to the scene to finish with a remarkable five world cup podiums, including X Games gold, a world championship and New Zealand's first FIS Freeski Crystal Globe. Phillips had another big season with the Black Caps, including playing at the Champions Trophy, and Butcher will long be remembered for his Olympic heroics as he won gold in the kayak cross in Paris. Sportswoman of the year will also be a tight contest between snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott, swimmer Erika Fairweather and alpine skier Alice Robinson. Returning from injury, Sadowski-Synnott had a stellar year, with several world cup podium finishes, landing the world's first triple cork in a women's slopestyle competition and winning the FIS Snowboarding Crystal Globe. Fairweather, who recently moved to Auckland, swam in four finals at the Olympics, narrowly missing the podium in her specialist 400m freestyle, and Robinson continued her form with podium finishes and was named Snow Sports New Zealand athlete of the year. Skiing veteran Adam Hall and athletic stars Holly Robinson, and Anna Grimaldi are nominated for para athlete/team of the year. Hall produced several world cup podium finishes, while Robinson and Grimaldi collected world championship and Paralympic medals. Grimaldi won T47 long jump silver and 100m bronze at the world para athletics championships, and backed up with gold in the 200m at the Paralympics, with an Oceania record, and bronze in the 100m. Robinson set a national record when she won silver in the women's F46 shot put at the world championships and won bronze in the shot put at the Paralympics. Team of the year will be another hotly contested category between the Otago Sparks, the Southern Stampede and the Otago men's 4x100m relay team. Finley Melville Ives (freeskiing), James Gardner (cycling) and Rocco Jamieson (snowboarding) are up for junior sportsman, while Ruby Star Andrews (freeskiing), Catherine Lund (athletics) and Ella Southby (netball) will battle for junior sportswoman. The next crop of Otago's future stars will also be recognised, with Alexis Owen (surfing), Mason Clarke (cricket), Phoebe Laker (athletics), Josh Grieve (cycling) and Joel Paterson (ice hockey) nominated for emerging talent. Michael Jacobs (athletics), Sean Thompson (snowboarding) and Nils Coberger and Tim Cafe (skiing) have been nominated for coach of the year, and Raylene Bates (athletics), Chris Gaffaney (cricket) and James Doleman (rugby) are up for official of the year. Services to sport, innovation in sport and the supreme award will be announced at the awards. "It is so exciting to see Otago's best athletes, officials and coaches continuing to shine on the national and international stage, with an exceptional lineup across all of the categories for 2025," Sport Otago chief executive James Nation said. "The Otago sporting community should be super proud of the calibre of finalists chasing bragging rights." The awards are judged by Nation, Otago Academy of Sport manager Carmel Leslie, Otago Daily Times sports editor Hayden Meikle, TVNZ sports reporter Michelle Prendiville and University of Otago pro vice-chancellor health sciences Megan Gibbons. The awards will be held at the Edgar Centre on June 13. Otago Sports Awards finalists Sportsman: Glenn Phillips (cricket), Luca Harrington (freeski), Finn Butcher (canoeing). Sportswoman: Zoi Sadowski-Synnott (snowboarding), Erika Fairweather (swimming), Alice Robinson (skiing). Team: Otago Sparks (cricket), Southern Stampede (ice hockey), Otago 4x100m relay (athletics). Para athlete/team of the year: Adam Hall (skiing), Holly Robinson (athletics), Anna Grimaldi (athletics). Junior sportsman: Finley Melville Ives (freeskiing), James Gardner (cycling), Rocco Jamieson (snowboarding). Junior sportswoman: Ruby Star Andrews (freesking) Catherine Lund (athletics), Ella Southby (netball). Coach: Michael Jacobs (athletics), Sean Thompson (snowboarding), Nils Coberger and Tim Cafe (skiing). Official: Raylene Bates (athletics), Chris Gaffaney (cricket), James Doleman (rugby). Emerging talent: Alexis Owen (surfing), Mason Clarke (cricket), Phoebe Laker (athletics), Josh Grieve (cycling), Joel Paterson (ice hockey).
