Meet Daniel Bounty | Australian Paralympian

Meet Daniel Bounty | Australian Paralympian

Words: Daniel Bounty

I'm Daniel Bounty, a Sunshine Coast, Queensland born and raised Paralympian. After an accident in the surf in 2009, I acquired a brain injury that left me in a wheelchair and stopped the function of the right side of my body.

As a fit, sport loving 8 year old, not being able to get out of bed in the morning made me determined to get back out there as soon as I recovered. After a year of intensive physio and rehab I was able to start doing the things I loved again. When I was told contact sport was out of the question, I found Little Athletics which quickly turned into Para running... And I found quite a liking to the sport. I began training with my current coach Peter Bock in 2016, and the dream of becoming a Paralympian started.

I competed in the World Junior Championships in Switzerland in 2017 where I raced the 800m Track event and came 4th. When the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics came into sight Peter and I got very serious with training and focused on the 1500m, as it’s the only middle distance event for my category (T38) available at the Paralympics... but after the cancellation of the 2020 games due to Covid I was disappointed that everything I’d been doing was potentially for nothing. However, I decided to use it to my advantage and train even harder where I managed to shave 8 seconds off my PB, which solidified my position in my first Australian senior team, for Tokyo 2021, at 19.

I was the youngest in the field and managed to come out 6th in a tough race with quality athletes. Post Tokyo games, it’s been full time training, leading into domestic competition as well as the World Para Championships Mid 2022. This leads me into the next Paralympic Games where I’m working towards the podium. Bring on Paris 2024!

All the best out there Dan! We're right behind you.

You can support and follow Dan on Instagram here