Mr Chris Scott OAM

Chris Scott was born in Gympie with cerebral palsy. At age eight he was refused a place on a junior football team because he couldn't kick the ball as well with his right foot as he could with his left. And for the next 32 years, he delivered one extraordinary dose of “I’ll show you!”

One of Australia’s most admired and unique sportsmen, he represented Australia at six consecutive Paralympic Games from 1988-2008 in three disciplines – seven-a-side football, athletics and cycling. He won 10 Paralympic cycling medals, including six gold medals. And he held two different world records.

He received the Order of Australia Medal in 2000 and the Australian Paralympic Committee’s Senior Male Athlete Award in 2002. He captained the Australian Paralympic team in 2004, was Australian Disabled Cyclist of the Year in 2002-03-04-05-08, was the Australian Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability in 2005, and was Queensland Cyclist of the Year in 2008 ahead of such able-bodied luminaries as Anna Meares and Robbie McEwan.

Yet if there is one moment that defines the man widely known as ‘Gecko’ it was his extraordinarily selfless gesture in the men’s sprint at the Athens Paralympics in 2004. Having helped his team qualify for the final he relinquished his place so a teammate could ride for gold. “I already had my gold … it’s what you do in a team,” he said later after the Australians had duly saluted.