Evan O’Hanlon shows he still has what it takes at Commonwealth Games, Brandon Starc pushes through pain for high jump silver – Michmutters
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Evan O’Hanlon shows he still has what it takes at Commonwealth Games, Brandon Starc pushes through pain for high jump silver

It is the middle of the European winter, and sprinter Evan O’Hanlon is shoveling snow off a track in the Czech Republic, where he lives, so he can train in -8C weather.

The Australian four-time Paralympian has no coach by his side, his long-time mentor Iryna Dvoskina coaches him by correspondence.

But he just keeps on running – he does not know how to stop.

“I guess one way to explain it is I’m a problem gambler, and I like coming out here and gambling two years of funding on 11 seconds of running,” he said after winning the men’s T37/38 100m at the Commonwealth Games.

O’Hanlon’s career could have ended two years ago after he broke his foot badly.

Not only did he define his doctor’s expectations to run again, he also embarked on a new mission to represent Australia at this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics in bobsled.

While he just missed out on qualification for the two-man event, he was determined to come back to the Commonwealth Games, and his persistence has been vindicated.

“It’s really nice, mostly because I could do it in front of my four-year-old daughter and my two-year-old son, Ursula and Alfred,” he said.

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