Bruce Wallrodt

Personal

Wallrodt was born on 26 September 1951 in the Western Australian city of Bunbury. He attended South Bunbury Primary School and Newton Moore Senior High School. After leaving school, he worked as a fitter and turner until the age of 29, when he had a spinal haemorrhage that left him paraplegic.

"Sport to me was an extended arm of the rehabilitation process and made me realise that there was little that I could not do even if I had to do it from a wheelchair. Competing and mixing with my peers showed me that the upper limits of my capabilities were far greater than I had thought possible. Sport opened up many doors that seemingly would have remained closed had I not been involved with it. There is mot a lot a person in a chair cannot do if they put their minds to it." - Bruce Wallrodt.

Career

Bruce Wallrodt's Paralympic career saw him compete in 13 events at 5 Paralympic Games. Bruce was coached by one of Australia's most versatile Paralympic athletes, Frank Ponta.

In the 1988 Seoul Games, Wallrodt won two gold medals in the Men's Shot Put 2 and the Men's Javelin 2 events, and a bronze medal in the Men's Discus 2 event.

At the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen, Netherlands he won gold medals in the Men's Shot Put and Discus F4 events.

At the 1992 Barcelona Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Javelin THW4 event (for which he received a Medal of The Order of Australia), and two silver medals in the Men's Discus THW4 and the Men's Shot Put THW4 events. Going into the 1992 Games, he was a world record holder in discus, javelin and shot put.

In the 1996 Atlanta Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's Shot Put F53 event and a bronze medal in the Men's Javelin F53 event.

In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Games in the men's shot put T54 event and came 4th in the Men's Javelin F54 - event.

At the 2004 Athens Games, he came fifth in both the Men's Javelin F54 and the Men's Shot Put F54 events.