# Sam Carter (athlete)

Samuel Harrison Carter (born 6 August 1991) is a Paralympic athlete, who competes in 100m, 200m, 400m and 1500m T54 events. He has represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, as well as at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

## Personal

Carter was born on 6 August 1991 in Toowoomba, Queensland with spina bifida. He attended Harristown State High School in Queensland. Before becoming a wheelchair racer, he was actively engaged in sport, in particular swimming and wheelchair basketball. In 2001, Carter attended a sports day held by Queensland Sporting Wheelies aimed at increasing the participation of disabled kids in sport, where he met Paralympian Geoff Trappett, who had won gold in the Men's T54 100m at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games and encouraged Carter to become involved in wheelchair racing. Carter has been an ethical vegan since 2017. He moved to Canberra in 2017 to make use of the training facilities at the Australian Institute of Sport.
In the 2024 ACT Legislative Assembly election, Carter ran as a Greens candidate to represent the Murrumbidgee electorate, but was unsuccessful. He is running as the Greens candidate for the Division of Bean in south Canberra in the 2025 Australian federal election.

## Sporting career

Carter began competing in 2003 as a junior athlete. Throughout his career, Carter has trained under a number of coaches including Geoff Darragh, Glen Baker, Brett Jones, Paul Angel, and currently trains under Fred Periac at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. In 2008, he broke national age records for the 100m, 200m and 400m in wheelchair racing. He went on to become the 100m junior world champion, winning gold in the 100m at the 2009 Junior Athletics World Championships. In 2011, Carter made the transition into adult competitions, where he has competed against wheelchair racers such as David Weir and Marcel Hug. Carter represented Australia at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch in the T54 100m, 200m and 400m. He also competed in the 2011 Gold Coast Wheelchair Half Marathon, which he won. In 2013 Carter was selected to represent Australia, in the T54 100m, 200m and 400m at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon.] He placed 6th and 5th in the T54 100m and 200m respectively. He won gold and silver at the 2015 Brisbane IPC Grand Prix in the T54 100m and 400m respectively.
At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Carter finished sixth in the Men's 100m T54, fifth in the Men's 200m and sixteenth in the Men's 400m T54.
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Carter finished sixth in the Men's 100m T54 and was ranked 15th in the Men's 400m T54.
At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in London, Carter finished fourth both the Men's 100m T54 and Men's 400m T54.
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Carter finished seventh in the heat and therefore qualified for the final. He came fifth in the Men's 100m T54 final and failed to win a medal. In the Men's 400m T54 Carter came ninth and did not advance to the final.
At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500m T54.
At the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in Paris, he finished fourth in the Men's 100m T54 and fifth in the heat of the Men's 400m T54.

## Recognition

In 2009, Carter won the Sports Darling Downs senior rookie of the year.