Tokyo Paralympics: Evan O’Hanlon’s Winter Olympic goal after Paralympic bronze

It is one of the more unusual ways to train for Paralympic sprinting - take up bobsleighing with an eye on representing Australia at next year’s Winter Olympics.

Evan O'Hanlon racing in Sydney prior to the coronavirus pandemic. He is hoping to compete at next year’s Winter Olympics.

Clearly sprinter Evan O’Hanlon likes to overcome obstacles. And the bigger the better.

His big challenge post the Paralympic Games is to qualify Australia a spot at the next Winter Olympics in bobsleigh while based in the Czech Republic far from his teammates in Australia.

He also has to find the money to do it, buy the equipment to do it and navigate his way through a global pandemic throwing up additional hurdles each week.

“I like pushing myself,’’ said O’Hanlon, the former St Joseph’s College student who won a bronze medal at the Paralympics on the weekend, is married to Czech Olympic Czech race walker Zuzana Schindlerová and is the father of two.

Charl du Toit of South Africa, Evan O'Hanlon of Australia and Union Sekailwe of South Africa racing the T38 100m final at the Commonwealth Games.

“I wondered if I could be the first to go from a Paralympics to an Olympics.’’

So he decided to give it a try - all the time training for the Tokyo Paralympics where he finished third in the 100m T38 on Saturday.

O’Hanlon, who has cerebral palsy due to a stroke before birth, said he is not heading piloting the campaign to prove a Paralympian can succeed in an able-bodied sport because they both have their merits and “neither is better than the other”.

The Australian team competing at the last Winter Olympics.

“The Olympics and Paralympics are two separate things and both have their value,’’ he said.

“It’s like comparing apples and oranges.’’

O’Hanlon said his sprinting career was perfect preparation for the changeover to bobsleigh.

“I look at my skills, I can run fast in a straight line,’’ he said. “The other thing I can do is stay calm.

“I have learned a lot from my athletics career and thinking clearly is something I can use in my bobsleighing as well.

Evan O'Hanlon decided against retiring after Rio to contest the Commonwealth Games and the Tokyo Games.

“I’m the bobsleigh pilot, team manager, captain, everything. I have to organise logistics, find money, transport, do it all.’

“It’s just something I really want to do.’’

In the meantime he trained for Tokyo - a Games he originally was not going to contest.

O’Hanlon finished third in his pet event, just behind and Great Britain’s Thomas Young and China’s Zhu Dening.

The 33-year-old went into the race with five gold medals and a silver to his name.

Originally published as Tokyo Paralympics: Evan O’Hanlon’s Winter Olympic goal after Paralympic bronze