Sydney gets the Sauvage treatment

Sauvage is a hero in Australia

By Lynda Jenkins in Sydney

Winning the Boston Marathon three times is only a small part of Louise Sauvage's achievements.

As Australia's most celebrated Paralympian, she was named World Sports Person of the Year (2000) with a Disability and in 1999 was named Female Athlete of the year in the prestigious Australian Sports Awards. She has also received The Order of Australia Medal.

Born with a spinal condition, Sauvage started her sporting career relatively late - starting with athletics at 14 and then switching to wheelchair track racing at 16.

Now 27, she has a long list of medals to her credit, including seven gold and one silver and holds world records in 200m, 1500m and the 4 x 100m relay and the 4 x 400m relays. She also won six events in the IPC World Athletics Championships in 1998.

National hero

Add to this her gold medal in the women's 800m wheelchair demonstration event at the Olympics and you can understand why she has become a national hero to a sporting mad population, as well as one of the most celebrated disabled athletes in the world.

Now, the eyes of Australia are on her, looking for success, as they were with 400m star Cathy Freeman in the Olympics.

But Sauvage's level of success does not come easily. She trains twice a day, six days a week.

In fact she has devoted her life to her sport. When people told her that she should not do that, it made her even more determined to turn her back on a less active career and study to become the successful professional athlete she is today.

To help her achieve such success Louise uses 'The Eliminator' racing chair, custom made in Tampa, Florida and weighing in at just 8kg. The lightweight aluminium frame is supported by high-performance, carbon-fibre wheels and has aerodynamic steering - all with a price tag of US$7000 (about £4,800).

With plenty of gold medals plentiful in the bag, and Sauvage looking as if there is still more left in the tank, it is unlikely that the Paralympics have heard the last from the Australian hero.