Latest news with #Alise
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Aussie Olympian paralysed from the chest down in freak accident shares baby joy with his world champion wife
Aussie Olympian Sam Willoughby has revealed his joy at becoming a father almost a decade after he was left paralysed from the chest down following a freak accident. Willoughby, 33, won silver in the men's BMX at the 2012 Games in London, but his life came crashing down as a result of the horrific training run crash in America. Now the star is on cloud nine after his wife Alise gave birth to a baby boy. 'Beau Matthew Willoughby joined us July 14 at 2:38am and we couldn't be more in love with our little man,' the three-time BMX world champion posted on her Instagram. 'Longer birthing journey than we anticipated but (we are) excited to be home.' In the lead up to the couple's wedding in San Diego, on New Year's Eve in 2017, Willoughby was determined to be vertical for his special day. He did so, walking down the aisle and dancing with his wife in moving scenes. 'I value life now more than ever and I probably overdo it a little bit sometimes, but I'm just trying to do everything I can to be healthy and keep moving forward,' he said at the time. 'I've already made gains that they said I never would and my ultimate goal is to be out of the wheelchair one day.' Willoughby's family haven't been surprised by his ongoing physical progress. 'He's just been used to setting goals and chipping away at things,' his mother Sharon said. 'The sport of BMX, you need to be pretty mentally tough. You train hard, you tick all the boxes but that doesn't mean you're guaranteed an outcome. 'So it's a bit like that with rehab.' Sharon Willoughby also paid tribute to her daughter-in-law, who is a four-time Olympian. 'They are just a remarkable couple together. The support and the energy they get from each other and the positivity is just amazing in itself,' she added.
7NEWS
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Former Australian BMX star Sam Willoughby and champion wife Alise celebrate arrival of first child
Former Australian BMX star Sam Willoughby and his world champion wife Alise have welcomed their first child into the world. The Olympic power couple announced the pregnancy in March and earlier this month revealed they would be having a boy. Beau Matthew Willoughby was born on July 14 after a lengthy labour. 'We couldn't be more in love with our little man,' the new parents wrote, announcing the arrival after a week. 'Longer birthing journey than we anticipated but excited to be home just in time for this Sunday's chequered flag as a family.' Sam tracked fellow rising BMX star Alise from the other side of the world when they were teenagers, with their Myspace messages progressing to a relationship in the US. Loading Instagram Post Sam became world champion for the first time in 2012 and months later won silver at the London Olympics. He won the 2014 world championship and made another Olympic final at Rio 2016, where Alise won silver for the United States. Just months later Sam was paralysed from the chest down from a training crash that also left him battling depression and an identity crisis. Sam underwent more than a year of gruelling recovery sessions before walking Alise down the aisle — with the help of knee braces — at their wedding on New Year's Eve in 2017. He then re-emerged on the BMX scene as a coach to Alise on her way to winning the 2019 world championship, while she also went on to win the 2024 title. Sam spoke of moving home to Adelaide after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 but the couple have remained based in California.
