Daniel Michel is at his family home in Sydney. He has returned from his second Paralympic Games in Tokyo where he competed in boccia and won a bronze medal, the first Paralympic medal won by an Australian for the sport since 1996.
We spoke over the phone on his eighth day of quarantine - Daniel was one of the returning Para-athletes to trial the home quarantine process - and he was counting down the days to when he can leave the house to “go for a walk along the beach, see the water, and probably get a coffee.”
Daniel first came to know about boccia when he was 15 years old. He was at a recreational camp run by Muscular Dystrophy New South Wales (MDNSW), and Boccia NSW held a session as part of that camp.
“At first I assumed that it might be for people with disabilities, but [I thought] it won't be for people with the level of disability that I have,” Daniel said.
But something prompted him to check it out anyway.
“I'm so glad that I did because I quickly found out that it was a sport I could play. One that was designed for people just like me, and that has an avenue all the way through to the Paralympic Games.”
Since then Daniel has dedicated himself to becoming the best player he could, and it has been a journey that has taken him all around the world.
His first international match was the Asia and Oceania Regional Championships held in Sydney. It was particularly memorable because not only was Daniel competing on a world level, but he also had his final high school French exam on the day of competition. “I had to quickly finish my French exam, then rush to the venue and jump on court and play a game, my first ever international match,” Daniel said. He won, too.
Daniel jokes that after studying French for six years, he can “barely start a conversation now [in French], but it's fun to brush up when I get a chance.” Now that fateful day is coming full circle with the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games fast approaching.
Reflecting on his most recent achievement in Tokyo, Daniel said that he hopes by securing Australia's first medal in 25 years and our first ever individual medal “it reinvigorates the sport even more in Australia, gets more people talking about boccia, more people playing boccia.”
“It's a competitive sport. It's not just turning up to the court every day and training, but it's also thinking about the game and being really strategic.”
We end the phone call discussing the tumultuous impact COVID-19 has had on the world, words like “lockdowns,” “uncertainty,” “a tough period of time for everyone” flow. But before hanging up Daniel said that competing at this year’s Paralympics is “something I'm probably never going to forget and be proud of for the rest of my life...an event that brought a lot of joy to a lot of people and gave a bit of hope. It was really special to be involved in.”
Daniel is on Hireup but hasn't connected with a support worker yet.
