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Eithen Leard
	Leard at the 2024 Summer Paralympics
Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Born	31 August 2005 (age 19)
Sport
Disability class	2.0
Club	Southern Districts Spartans

Eithen Laird (born 8 August 2005) is a 2.0 point wheelchair basketball player from Australia. He was a member of the Rollers at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.^[1]

Early life

Laird was born on 8 August 2005.^[2] He was born paralysed waist down and required regular surgery to straighten his growing legs, which formed crookedly in the womb as result of his paralysis. His parents Katrina and Brett moved from Mackay, Queensland to Ipswich, Queensland to be closer medical services.^[3] He was school captain at the Sacred Heart Parish School in Booval^[4] and attended Westside Christian College.^[5]

As a twelve year old, he carried Queen's baton through Ipswich, en route to the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast.^[6]

Leard view of disability sports is "I want to be someone that leads the normalisation of high-level disability sports” and "You get opportunities to travel the world if you work hard, the same as if you play able bodied basketball, you get the opportunities to play for your country if you work hard.”^[7]

Basketball career

He started playing wheelchair basketball as five year old.^[8] At the age of nine, he took the court at the National Wheelchair Basketball Championships and was the youngest player selected in the Queensland under-23 junior development squad, the Roaring Thunder.^[8] He made his Rollers team debut at the 2022 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Dubai where they finished seventh. He was a member of the Rollers team at the 2024 IWBF Asia-Oceania Championships in Thailand, where they won the gold medal and qualified for 2024 Summer Paralympics.^[9]

At the 2024 Paris Paralympics, he was a member of the Rollers that finished fifth with a win/loss record of 3-3.^[10]

He is a member of the Southern District Spartans in the National Wheelchair Basketball League and is supported by the Queensland Academy or Sport.^[7]

References

^ "Fire Burns For Veteran Rollers Picked For Paris 2024 | Paralympics Australia". www.paralympic.org.au. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
^ "Eithen Leard". www.australia.basketball. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
^ "Car park ruling hits disabled tot - Family denied permit". Courier Mail. 1 June 2008. p. 21.
^ "School captain brings home gold for Queensland". Queensland Times. 26 May 2017. p. 31.
^ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
^ "Lucky few named in baton race". Queensland Times. 18 October 2017. p. 8.
^ ^a ^b "Eithen Leard". Queensland Academy of Sport. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Strong force to be reckoned wit". South West News (Brisbane, Australia). 1 April 2015. p. 39.
^ "Rollers Team Announced for Asia Oceania Championships". www.australia.basketball. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
^ "Point Proven, But Rollers Lament Lost Opportunity | Paralympics Australia". www.paralympic.org.au. 6 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.