Ballard ready for Rio Paralympics, but an elusive gold won’t define her career

NSWIS athlete Angie Ballard says she is ready for competition when the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games begin on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), naming the T53 100m and 400m as her best chances of tasting gold.

There will be 177 athletes representing Australia in Rio, with more than half of those in the team entering as Games rookies. However Ballard will find herself among the leaders as a veteran of four Games with three silver and two Paralympic bronze medals to her name.

Ballard has a commanding schedule in Rio as she looks to contest the 100m, 400m, 800m and 1500m events, with the chance of a relay also on the cards. Despite the full schedule, it is the 400m where she believes she has the best chance.

“The 400m is my thing,” Ballard told the Daily Telegraph’s Lisa Herbertson.

“I’m ranked within the top two for my 100 and 400, so I would like to get a result that reflects that. But again there are some girls that have been improving quite rapidly over the past few years.”

On the form guide Ballard knows she is a chance at gold those two events, but as a veteran who began her Paralympics career back in Sydney, was quick to point out that the Paralympics often bring unlikely results.

“It’s hard to tell, as we saw at the Olympics,” she said.

“Some of the favourites didn’t do as well as they would have hoped.

“I think I am in really good form. It’s the best I’ve ever gone into a Games.”

While Ballard treasures her Paralympic medals, the 34-year-old doesn’t rank the medals she already has at the top of her achievements list. Rather, it is the moment she broke a six-year-old world record in the 400m at last years IPC Grand Prix in Switzerland that she rates as her best moment.

“I think breaking the world record last year was pretty much the highlight for me in terms of being an athlete,” Ballard said.

“It was actually quite removed for me from coming first. It’s reinforcement to me that as an athlete I’ve gotten really good at what I do, and I’ve always dreamed of being one of the people setting the standard in my sport.”

Should she continue to set the standard in Rio, that elusive gold may well be a welcome complimentary reward.

The Paralympics begin on Wednesday September 7, concluding on Sunday September 18.