Brant Garvey

Brant Garvey
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait
Personal information
NationalityAustralian
Born (1985-01-09) 9 January 1985 (age 39)
Darwin, Northern Territory
Sport
ClubExceed Triathlon Club
Medal record
Men's paratriathlon
Representing  Australia
Oceania Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Penrith PT2
Gold medal – first place 2015 Penrith PT2
Gold medal – first place 2016 Devonport PT2
Gold medal – first place 2017 Devonport PTS2
Gold medal – first place 2018 St. Kilda PTS2

Brant Garvey (born 9 January 1985) is an Australian leg amputee paratriathlete. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics when paratriathlon made its debut at the Paralympics.[1]

Personal

Garvey was born on 9 January 1985 in Darwin, Northern Territory.[2] He is a congenital above the knee amputee. His sister was diagnosed with three types of cancer at the age of fourteen and this has inspired Garvey to accept sporting challenges.[2][3] He lives in Perth, Western Australia. He is the founder of noXcuses, an Australian apparel company for triathletes and fitness enthusiasts. Garvey is married to Natalie.[4]

Career

Prior to taking up paratriathlon, Garvey was a successful swimmer and wheelchair basketballer.[2] He competed in wheelchair basketball for Australia at the 2002 FESPIC Games held in Korea.[2] He was a member of the Perth Wheelcats that won five Australian Wheelchair Basketball Championships and has played professional wheelchair basketball in Spain for two years.[2] He has completed Rottnest Channel Swim five times.[2]

At the age of twenty-eight, he decided to try and run for the first time using a prosthetic leg and his first event was the HBF Run for a Reason over 12 km.[3] In 2013, he completed an ironman triathlon consisting of a 3.8 km swim, a 180 km bike ride and a 42.2 km marathon run. He finished in a time of 11:49:20 and became the first Australian above-knee amputee to complete an ironman triathlon.[3]

Garvey is classified as a PT2 paratriathlete. Garvey's first major international event was the 2013 ITU Grand Final in London where he finished sixth.[5] In 2016, he qualified Australia a quota place in the 2016 Rio Paralympics by finishing second at International Triathlon Union event on the Gold Coast, Queensland.[6] In May, 2016, he finished second in the Yokohama ITU World Paratriathlon PT2 Event.[6] In 2016, he is a Western Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder and coached by Ross Pedlow.[6]

In 2016, he was awarded the Western Australian Institute of Sport Personal Excellence Award for his efforts in setting up and flourishing personal branding business, titled noXcuses.[7]

World Triathlon Grand Final (Championships) Results

Oceania Championships

  • 2014 Sydney - 1st PT2[5]
  • 2015 Sydney - 1st PT2[5]
  • 2016 Devonport - 1st PT2[5]

Paralympics

  • 2016 Rio - 10th PT2[9]

In 2016, Garvey competed in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and placed 10th in the Men's PT2 event.[9] Reflecting on his performance, Garvey states "I was in excruciating pain, dropped a few swear words, lucky they (the Brazilian fans) don't speak English as a first language. I didn't think I was going to be able to run but managed to get into a bit of a rhythm and finished my first Paralympic Games."[10]

References

  1. ^ "DEBUTANT PARATRIATHLETES PUT ICING ON THE RIO CAKE". Triathlon Australia website. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Brant Garvey". Australian Paralympic Committee website. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Garvey, Brant (13 May 2015). "When my sister beat cancer I decided I could run with one leg". Western Australian. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  4. ^ "About Brant Garvey". Triathon Australia. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Brant Garvey". International Triathlon Union website. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  6. ^ a b c "Garvey Wins Silver in Yokohama". Western Australian Institute of Sport News. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Athlete of the Year". Western Australian Institute of Sport website. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  8. ^ "Golden day for Aussie paratriathletes in Rotterdam". Triathlon Australia website. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Men's PT2 Schedule & Results". Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  10. ^ Spits, Scott (11 September 2016). "Triathlon on debut at Rio Paralympics: Pain, disappointment and a love for the sport". Triathlon on debut at Rio Paralympics: Pain, disappointment and a love for the sport. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 September 2016.