Para Sports Nutrition

E17 Danni Di Toro Paralympian

Danni Di Toro is a 7 time paralympian with a spinal cord injury who has competed in both wheelchair tennis and, more recently, para table tennis. Danni was co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team at both Rio and Tokyo Paralympic Games, and is currently the Paralympics Australia athlete welfare and engagement manager. Danni shares with us her extensive experience as an athlete, mental health advocate and team mate. 

E16 Anu Koivisto Sports Dietitian

Anu Koivisto is a 2 time Olympic swimmer for Finland who has worked for a number of years as a sports dietitian at the Norwegian Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Olympiatoppen. Anu is responsible for working with both Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Anu talks to us about her approach to working with Para athletes, some of the specific issues that have arisen through their medical screening and some solutions they've found.

E15 Bridie Kean Wheelchair Basketball

Dr Bridie Kean is a 2 time Paralympian in wheelchair basketball for Australia. She has also completed a PhD looking at barriers and facilitators to playing wheelchair basketball in a collegiate / university setting. We talk to Bridie about her nutrition journey as an athlete with coeliac disease, the findings of her PhD, and her more recent experiences in being a member of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic / Paralympic bid.

E14 Gustavo Osorio Strength and Conditioning Coach

Gustavo Osorio (aka Goose) is a strength & conditioning coach who works at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and is based at the Chula Vista training centre in San Diego. He talks to us about how he approaches programming for the Track & Field athletes.

E13 Sleep with Peta Maloney

Dr Peta Maloney is an Australian sports physiologist and recovery specialist who has works with Para athletes. Peta talks to us about the importance of sleep for athletes, why para athletes may have difficulty with sleeping consistently, and what strategies can be used to help develop better sleeping patterns to support sports performance.

E12 Sally Baumann Sports Dietitian

Sally Baumann is the lead sports dietitian for the U.S. Paralympic programs and has been working with para athletes for the past 2.5 years. In the first of a series of interviews with sports dietitians, we talk to Sally about how she goes about working with para athletes and how this might be different to working with other athletes.

E11 Meg Lemon Para cyclist

Meg Lemon is a WC4 para cyclist with an acquired brain injury who recently won a bronze medal in the time trial at the Tokyo Paralympics. Meg is also a sports dietitian. Meg talks to us about her impairment and how it affects her, the nutrition challenges she has faced and the ways she is working on overcoming those challenges.

E10 Sophia Herzog Para Swimmer

Sophia Herzog is a 2 time Paralympic medal winning swimmer with short stature. Sophia talks about her career in swimming and her experiences with changing training programs. She also explains how a change in body weight (increased muscle mass) through training did not suit her in the pool. 

E9 Adam Bleakney Wheelchair Racing coach

Adam Bleakney is a 4 time Paralympic wheelchair racer and the head wheelchair track and marathon racing coach at the University of Illinois, the most consistently successful program in the world. Adam shares his transition from being an athlete to a coach, how he manages a program involving collegiate through to elite level athletes, and his insight into what has shaped such a truly successful program.

E8 CBD with Danielle McCartney

Cannabidiol (or CBD) is a substance often promoted for its potential to relieve pain, reduce anxiety, improve sports performance, aid with sleep, and even improve acne! Dr Danielle McCartney discusses the research that has been undertaken into CBD and its potential benefits and highlights the lack of research in many areas. We also discuss the difficulties faced in relation to WADA regulations for athletes who may want to explore CBD.