In a few months Paralympic fever will take hold, and we’ll be whisked away on five interlaced rings to Paris, the City of Love, the Capital of Fashion, and, if all goes to plan, the home of a Paralympic medal for Allambie’s 19-year-old Mali Lovell.
Most recently, Mali was honoured to be named the winner of the Amy Winters Female Para-athlete of the year for 2023 from Athletics Australia. She will be competing at the World Para Championships in Kobe, Japan from 17-24 May, and at the ACT Championships in January she achieved another Paralympic ‘A’ qualifier, which basically means she has achieved all the qualifying times and requirements to be eligible for the Paris games.
Mali’s journey to international athletic competition was however very slow out of the starting blocks. “My first ever race was at David Thomas Reserve, when I was in Kindy,” recalls Mali. “I came dead last by a very long way, probably about 50metres!” The fact she was even running at all by 5 years of age was a huge feat to begin with.
“Mali was born with ataxic cerebral palsy,” explains her mum, Melissa. This affects the cerebellum, which for Mali is about half the size it would otherwise be. This in turn affects speech, balance, coordination, everything related to motor function, movement regulation, and balance control. “In many ways, Mali was the perfect baby,” says Melissa. “She didn’t move! I could have left her on the change table, gone to make dinner, and she’d still be there. For the record, I never did that!”
Mali was also very slow to talk. The Lovell family developed their own sign language, replete with a picture book they took to preschool at age 3 so the teachers could communicate with Mali and know what each bespoke Lovell family sign actually meant. Around the same time, Mali first started to walk. “She was like a newborn foal,” recalls Mel. And running was not something that would come early or naturally, but thanks to dedicated physio and occupational therapy, and countless hours of pushing a wheelbarrow – sometimes filled with bricks – up and down the driveway, Mali’s newborn foal steps became more confident, assured, and fast!
At 12 years of age, good friend, fantastic runner, and current training partner, Olivia Inkster, and her mother Alina, noticed there was a Para section of Little Athletics, and encouraged Mali to give it a go. Little Athletics at Narrabeen becoming a staple. The newborn foal was suddenly on track to Phar Lap supremacy. Her lightning pace secured an invite to the Cerebral Palsy World Games in Spain in 2018, narrowly missing a spot in the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020, securing a NSW Institute of Sport scholarship at age 17, and taking the T36 category by storm at last year’s World Championships, also in Paris, coming out of nowhere to win Silver.
When not training under the expert guidance of track superstar Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and coach Katie Edwards, Mali’s inspiring others by volunteering at Cerebral Palsy Alliance, and working at Rebel Sports, whose partnership with Athletics Australia assists athletes secure work that can best fit in around busy training and competition schedules. But Mali’s prime focus from now till the finish line in Paris is clear, “There’s a lot of training ahead, some more qualifiers,” says Mali. “But if I can get stronger, become faster out of the blocks, I know I’ll have a chance of a spot on the podium.”