Ryley Batt never had any role models or saw any people in wheelchairs in the limelight when he was growing up as a kid.
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While he admits it was quite hard to accept who he was at the time, he now hopes his success can inspire the next generation of youngsters with disabilities.
Six weeks ago, the Port Macquarie Paralympian helped Australia win the 2022 Wheelchair Rugby World Championships in Denmark.
On November 18-20 he was at it again in Wollongong when he claimed the adaptive male division in Australia's premier CrossFit event - the Down Under Championships.
It was the first time adaptive athletes competed at that level in Australia, but Batt said his mission now was about changing a belief that a disability defines an individual.
He doesn't care about any personal accolades.
"For me now to be able to showcase this kind of stuff to kids with and without disabilities as well, it means a lot," he said.
"If [I] can change just a couple of lives out there and make kids with disabilities see they're more capable than they actually think they are and have a better quality of life, then [I've] achieved [my] goal.
"I'm going to keep fighting for this for years to come to help people push themselves outside their boundaries."
Batt said adaptive CrossFit has recently "taken off" in America and the Down Under Championships were an opportunity to showcase to the general public what people with disabilities can do.
"We're now living in an age where Australia is one of the world leaders in disability advocacy and I'm very proud to be a Paralympian and now proud to compete in adaptive CrossFit," he said.
The victory was added icing on the cake to his year.
"I was doing it more for fun, but at the end of the day we're all competitive so we always want to win," he said.
"It's not so much for me personally [because] I've achieved everything I want to in life and sometimes I don't like going through that pain cave [when competing].
"But it's about showing to the next generation what we can do with our disabilities and with our abilities."
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