Para Sports Nutrition

Dr Nathan Delang is a dietitian and the Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the Acquired Brain Injury in Children Group at the University of Queensland. Nathan talks to us about research into nutritional support of the brain during or after brain injuries, from concussion through to acquired brain injuries.

Julia Battams is the head para equestrian coach for Australia, and the founder of the Equine Pathways Australia charity which supports the development of para equestrian riders across Australia. Julia tells us all about the sport of para equestrian, the nutrition challenges athletes face, and the pathways available to coaches to get involved in the sport.

Elliot Stewart won a silver medal in the 2020 Paralympic games for Judo, and has since begun a role as the National Para Lead for Judo Australia. Elliot tells us what Para Judo is, the demands of the sport, and his experience in progressing from being an able-bodied Judoka and coach into Para Judo with a newly acquired vision impairment. He has great advice for Judo coaches, athletes and support personnel.

Hoda Elshorbagy is an Egyptian wheelchair racer with polio. Hoda talks to us about her journey from a small Egyptian town with no pavement where there are no other wheelchair racers to training with the University of Illinois wheelchair racing group under the coaching of Adam Bleakney. She also discusses how she manages her nutrition priorities during Ramadan.

Dr Steve Reid is a sport and exercise physician and Chief Medical Officer of Paralympics Australia. Steve talks to us about how he got into working in sports medicine, and focuses on the medical issues that he sees most commonly in Para athletes and how nutrition inter-relates with them.

Sean Pollard is an Australian para snowboarder who competed at the PyeongChang Paralympic games and, after taking a break, is back competing again. Sean is a bilateral arm amputee as a result of a shark attack when surfing. Sean talks to us about his journey into para snowboard, his training and how he's becoming more serious about his nutrition.

Joshua Brunais and Jake Kaplan are CP Soccer players for Team USA. Josh and Jake talk to us about their impairments (aquired brain injury and cerebral palsy, respectively), how they got into playing CP soccer, their training and how they manage their nutrition and hydration to support their training.

Kate Davis is the sports dietitian who has been working with the U.S. Mens' and Womens' Goalball programs since 2017. Kate talks to us about goalball, all the things she's learned by working with athletes with a visual impairment.

Trinity Lowthian is a Canadian wheelchair fencer who is striving to qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic games. Trinity is also 'fed' and hydrated solely via intravenous nutrition. She talks to us about her impairment, why she cannot digest foods, and how she's worked towards finding a solution to enable her to train and compete at the best of her ability.

Raquel Teixeira is a sports nutritionist at FC Porto in Portugal who works with a number of athletes with impairments. Raquel talks to us about the work she does with athletes with an intellectual impairment, the challenges she faces in teaching them about nutrition, and the lessons she's learned in how best to get the key messages across. 

Dr Greg Cox is a sports dietitian and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University. Greg talks to us about his particular area of research interest, the carbohydrate needs of athletes, what influences this, and how important consuming sufficient carbohydrate is for optimising training, health, and ultimately performance.

David Wagner is a wheelchair (quad division) tennis player and 5 time Paralympian. David talks to us about his journey as a quad tennis player, his impairment, his training and how he has built his nutrition strategies around the short times at home and long periods of travel. 

Oliver Lam-Watson is a wheelchair fencer who competed in Tokyo at his first Paralympic games, winning 2 medals. Oliver talks to us about his impairment, how he got into wheelchair fencing, what the sport of wheelchair fencing looks like, his training, the nutrition journey he's been on and what he's learnt, as well as how he monitors himself to ensure he optimises his training and adaptations / recovery.

Keely Shaw is a Paralympic Cyclist who medalled on the track in Tokyo 2020, and is also finishing a PhD in the area of nutrition. Keely talks to us about her impairment, how she got into para cycling, her training, and how she uses her nutrition to make her a better athlete. She also tells us about her masters and PhD work in the areas of nutrition and performance and how she balances training with being a full time grad student.