Keynote Speaker: Paralympian Joany Badenhorst for International Day of People with Disability

Wagga Wagga City Council hosts Joany Badenhorst to recognise and celebrate International Day of People with Disability

Join us to hear Joany discuss some of her challenging life experiences but how these have all helped her become the inspiring person she is today! 

interpreters available on the day, please notify Council's Youth Development Officer - Alexandra Osgood - osgood.alexandra@wagga.nsw.gov.au - if you require this so we can notify the interpreter prior to the event.

Read a brief summary of her journey below:

'After just missing selection for the London 2012 Paralympic Games in Para-athletics, Joany was approached by Paralympics Australia to transfer to Para-snowboard. Devastatingly, just hours before her first race at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, she crashed on a final training run and broke her patella, dislocated her knee and collapsed her hip.

The crash only strengthened her resolve, and at the 2016-2017 IPC Snowboard World Cup Finals in PyeongChang, South Korea, Joany reached the final of the women’s snowboard cross SB-LL2 and won the World Cup Crystal Globe. She won World Cup Crystal Globes for the most points won in the women’s banked slalom SB-LL2 and the most points won overall for the 2017-2018 season, and was among Australia’s top medal hopes to break a 16-year Paralympic Winter Games gold medal drought at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Games.

Joany was appointed co-captain of the 2018 Australian Paralympic Team with Para-alpine skier Mitchell Gourley, and the Australian flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremony. But in a horrific stroke of bad luck, Joany injured her knee during a training run in PyeongChang and was ruled out of the Games.'

EVENT ACCESSABILITY 

• Hearing Aid Loop system which consists of a wire loop that is installed in the Civic Centre Meeting Room and is connected to the sound system. 
• Wheelchair accessible: The Civic Centre Main Meeting Room is located on the ground floor of the Wagga Wagga Civic Centre with accessible bathroom facilities, wide doorways and automatic entryways. Ramps to the Civic Centre from the street can be found on Baylis and Morrow Street. Disability Permit parking can be located on Morrow and Baylis Streets. 
• Auslan Interpreter will be available for the duration of the event. We recommend sitting closer to the front of the audience. Please contact Alex, Council's Youth Development Officer (Osgood.Alexandra@wagga.nsw.gov.au) if you require this so we can notify the interpreter prior to the event.