With two thumbs up and a beaming smile, Andre Rivett is eager to shoot for the stars.
What started as a school’s sports program, Andre Rivett has progressed to national competitions and is the first Down Syndrome athlete to represent Australia in athletics.
Currently ranked number 1 F20 athlete in Queensland for Shot Put, Discus and Javelin, the Woodridge local is eyeing for glory at the upcoming Virtus Oceania Games (OA Games).
The OA Games is an international multi-sport competition in the Oceania Asia region for elite athletes with an intellectual impairment. Celebrating diversity, ability and inclusivity, the OA Games is set to take place in Brisbane on 5-11 November 2022.
With the competition drawing near, Andre, nicknamed “The Hulk”, has been sticking to a strict program, lifting heavy weights in the gym and getting his throwing technique to perfection on the field.
Steven Rivett, Andre’s father, is proud of his son’s achievement, saying it’s a pinnacle when he competes with athletes of different abilities.
“Para athletics is actually very competitive in Australia, so when he comes up against other disabilities, he’s got to be right on form.
“With Andre, his motivation to keep going is winning medals, so as long as we can find competitions where he can win medals, spread out over the year, then that keeps him going.
“The OA Games is important. It gives him more competition and it keeps the category in front of the minds of people that need to know about it. The long term goal is to get it into the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane and have Andre compete in the Olympics,” said Steven Rivett.
As an athlete with Down Syndrome, Andre meets the eligibility criterion of the II-2 classification in Virtus events but more effort has been seen in recent years to include a Down Syndrome category (F21) in the Paralympics.
Unlike his competitors, Andre makes a full turn in the lead up to a discus throw.
“At the world championships, everyone was in awe when Andre threw his discus because they’ve never seen a Down Syndrome athlete turn so well and throw so far. Andre’s living proof that you can do it. It’s taken us 4 to 5 years but you’ve got to put the work into it.
“We’ve got to start saying to these athletes, look it’s great that you can stand at the front and throw it but we need to teach you to be able to turn in discus or glide in shot put or do a run up in javelin.
“We don’t want them to go to the Olympics and just stand there and throw and everyone goes ‘Oh, isn’t that nice.’ We want them to be seen as proper athletes,” said Steven.
Steven is continuously looking to grow the number of athletes competing in the classification by getting countries to field their athletes on an elite level.
For now, the Rivett family is looking forward to having a home crowd support at the OA Games.
“I’ve already got a list of people I’ve got to buy tickets for and to let everyone know the dates and times when he’s competing.
“At the global games, we had this really big, long banner made up and put it on the back fence. And every time someone came to watch him, we’d get a photo to say that they were there.
“I haven’t thought about it yet but I’ve got to get on and probably design another banner. Andre likes coming over the fence after he’s won a medal, putting the flag around his shoulders and doing a victory lap,” said Steven.
With his blazing muscles, The Hulk is ready to put his best shot forward.
