Colin Harrison (sailor)

Colin Anthony Harrison OAM (born 20 February 1961)[1] is an Australian Paralympic sailor. He won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics,[2] and the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in the Three Person Sonar.[3][4]

Colin Harrison
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait
Personal information
Nationality Australia
Born (1961-02-20) February 20, 1961 (age 63)
Medal record
Sailing
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio Mixed Three Person Sonar
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Beijing Mixed Three Person Sonar
IFDS World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Kinsale Mixed Three Person Sonar
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Halifax Mixed Three Person Sonar
Silver medal – second place 2015 Melbourne Mixed Three Person Sonar
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Medemblik Mixed Three Person Sonar

Personal

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He was born on 20 February 1960. He is a right forequarter amputee due to cancer.[1]

Career

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Jonathan Harris, Stephen Churm and Colin Harrison sailing at the 2012 London Paralympics
 
Colin Harrison, Russell Boaden, Jonathan Harris sailing at the 2016 Rio Paralympics

He participated in the Mixed Three Person Sonar event at the 2004 Athens Games without winning a medal, and won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2008 Beijing Games.[2] His team finished 6th at the 2012 Games.[5]

At the 2013 IFDS World Championships in Kinsale, Ireland, he teamed with Jonathan Harris (sailor) and Russell Boaden to win the bronze medal in the Sonar Class.[6] In October 2013, the trio were named Yachting Australia's Sailors of the Year with a Disability.[7] At the 2014 IFDS World Championships in Halifax, Canada, Harrison teamed with Harris and Boaden to win the bronze medal in the Sonar Class.[8] In November 2014, Harrison shared the Yachting Australia Sailor of the Year with a Disability award with Daniel Fitzgibbon, Liesl Tesch, Jonathan Harris, Russell Boaden and Matthew Bugg. The Australian team of six sailors beat Great Britain by one point at the IFDS World Championship.[9]

At the 2015 IFDS Championships in Melbourne, Australia he teamed with Boaden and Harris to win the silver medal behind the Great Britain crew. Their score was 37.0 to Great Britain's 36.0.[10]

Harrison, Boaden and Harris won the bronze medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar class at the 2016 World Championships held in Medemblik, Netherlands.[11]

Harrison, Boaden and Harris won the gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar class at 2016 Summer Paralympics. During the event they had three first placings and four second placings.[3] He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2017.[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b Media guide : Beijing 2008 (PDF). Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b "3-Person Keelboat (Sonar) - Standings". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Australia's Paralympic Sailors set sail for their last Games". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 15 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Colin Harrison". International Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Bronze medal win for Australia at IFDS World Championships". Yachting Australia News. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  7. ^ "2013/14 Annual Report" (PDF). paralympic.org.au. Australian Paralympic Committee. p. 26 (pdf p. 15). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Results". IFDS Worlds 2014 website. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Stellar night for Australian sailing at Yachting Australia Awards 2014". Yachting Australia News. 1 November 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Excellence to the very end". 2015 Para World Sailing Championships at RYCV Melbourne, Australia website. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  11. ^ "2016 Para World Sailing Championship". World Sailing website. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  12. ^ "OAM Final Media Notes (F-L)" (PDF). Governor General of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
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