Louise Sauvage

Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM (born 18 September 1973)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach.<ref name=Disability-Sport-93>Template:Cite book</ref>

Sauvage is often regarded as the most renowned disabled sportswoman in Australia.<ref name=aussie-women-cd-4B>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=aotd-sauvage-5>Template:Cite journal</ref> She won nine gold and four silver medals at four Paralympic Games and eleven gold and two silver medals at three IPC Athletics World Championships. She has won four Boston Marathons, and held world records in the 1500 m, 5000 m and 4x100 m and 4x400 m relays. She was Australian Female Athlete of the Year in 1999, and International Female Wheelchair Athlete of the Year in 1999 and 2000. In 2002, her autobiography Louise Sauvage: My Story was published.

Early life

Template:Quote box Sauvage was born in 1973 in Perth, Western Australia, the daughter of Rita (née Rigden) and Maurice Sauvage. Her mother was a Ten Pound Pom from Leicestershire, England, while her father was born in the British colony of Seychelles.<ref name="Game">Biography Template:Webarchive at She's Game, Women making Australian sporting history</ref> She was born with a severe congenital spinal condition called myelomeningocele,<ref name=Disability-Sport-94>Template:Cite book</ref> which inhibits the function of the lower half of the body, giving limited control over the legs. In 1976 she was Perth's Telethon Child as part of a Channel 7 fund-raiser for children with disabilities.<ref name=Game/> She used calipers to help walk until she received her first wheelchair.<ref name=aged-3>Hutchinson, G. (2002). The best Australian sports writing, 2002. Melbourne, Vic: Black Inc. p.64.</ref> Her myelomeningocele required her to have 21 surgical operations by the time she was ten years old.<ref name=eales-7 /> As a preteen, Sauvage had scoliosis,<ref name=aged-3-65>Hutchinson, G. (2002). The best Australian sports writing, 2002. Melbourne, Vic: Black Inc. p.65.</ref> and at 14, she had surgery to fix a curvature in her spine,<ref name="aged-3-65" /><ref name=sauvage-swim /> using steel rods.<ref name=sauvage-swim /> The operation was only partially successful, and as an adult, she still has a curve of roughly 49 degrees.<ref name="aged-3-65" /> She has not had any subsequent surgery to fix the curve in her spine.<ref name="aged-3-65" />

Sauvage grew up in Joondanna, Western Australia, attending Tuart Hill Primary School and Hollywood Senior High School before leaving to complete a TAFE course in office and secretarial studies.<ref name="Game" /> She underwent 20 operations before the age of 10. Her parents encouraged her to participate in sport from a very young age.<ref name="Disability-Sport-94" /> She started swimming when she was three years old, with her parents enrolling her in swimming classes to help her build upper body strength.<ref name=sauvage-swim>Julie, Robotham. "Sauvage savours her Magic moment." The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 February 2011: 5.</ref> Sauvage started to compete in wheelchair sport at the age of eight. Before that time, she had attempted to play school sport with her classmates but her disability made it difficult.<ref name=eales-7 /> She took up competitive wheelchair racing when she was 15.<ref name=sauvage-swim /> Sauvage also tried wheelchair basketball as a youngster.<ref name="aged-3-65" />

Competitive athletic career

File:231000 - Athletics wheelchair racing 800m T54 final Louise Sauvage silver action 2 - 3b - 2000 Sydney race photo.jpg

Action shot of Sauvage on her way to winning silver in the 800 m T54 wheelchair race at the 2000 Summer Paralympics

A racing wheelchair in a glass display case amongst other Paralympic paraphernalia.

Louise Sauvage's wheelchair from the 1996 Paralympic Games

File:201000 - Opening Ceremony athletics competitor Louise Sauvage flame lighting 7 - 3b - 2000 Sydney opening ceremony photo.jpg

Sauvage lights the Paralympic flame at the 2000 Summer Paralympics

File:141100 - Athletics wheelchair racing Louise Sauvage medal podium - 2000 Sydney podium photo.jpg

Sauvage shown waving to the crowd whilst on the medal podium at the 2000 Summer Paralympics

Template:Quote box From the ages of 10 to 13, Sauvage represented Western Australia in the national swim championships. She was forced to retire from swimming when she turned 14, because of surgery.<ref name=sauvage-swim />

When Sauvage first started competing in wheelchair racing, the chairs all had four wheels and were similar to the chairs that they used off the track. The chairs did not have any form of steering. The front wheels were smaller than the back wheels, and when at high speed, they were prone to wobbling. By 1997, racing wheelchairs had basically finished undergoing massive changes to improve them.<ref name=aged-3-67>Hutchinson, G. (2002). The best Australian sports writing, 2002. Melbourne, Vic: Black Inc. p.67.</ref>

In 1990, Sauvage competed in her first international competition in Assen, Holland, where she won gold in the 100 m setting a new world record. She also won the 200 m race but was disqualified for moving out of her lane. At the Stoke Mandeville Games in England the same year, Sauvage took gold in the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, and two relays.<ref name=my-life>Sauvage, Louise, and Ian Heads. Louise Sauvage: My Story. Pymble, N.S.W: HarperCollins, 2002. Print.</ref>

Paralympic Games

File:11 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Track Louise Sauvage.jpg

Australian athlete Louise Sauvage races at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games

Before the start of the 1992 Summer Paralympics, Sauvage held Australian records for the 100 m, 200 m, 800 m, 1500 m and marathon in women's wheelchair racing events. She was being marketed by the Australian Paralympic Federation as Australia's top female wheelchair road racer.<ref name=barcelona-1992>Template:Cite book</ref> At the Barcelona Paralympic Games, she won gold medals in the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m and a silver in the 800 m TW4 events and finished sixth in Marathon TW3-4.<ref name=":0" /> In recognition of her athletic feats she was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia.<ref name="Disability-Sport-93" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Sauvage was in danger of not going to the 1992 Paralympics because of funding issues for the Australian Paralympic Federation. The Federation made an emergency appeal for funding from the public in order to cover the cost of transporting the Australian team to Barcelona. The Federation found funding through a variety of small donations that allowed Sauvage and other Australian athletes to compete.<ref name="link-25">Template:Cite journal</ref>

At the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, she won four gold medals - 400 m (T53), 800 m (T53), 1500 m (T52-53) and 1500 m (T52-53) and finished fourth in Marathon (T52-53).<ref name=":0" /> She won these while having an injured wrist. She set world records in the 1500 m and 5000 m events during these Games.<ref name=aussie-women-cd-4B /> Sauvage won the 5000 m and the 400 m golds only an hour apart.<ref name=golden-6>Template:Cite journal</ref> At her final Paralympics in Sydney, 2000, she won two gold medals - 1500 m and 5000 m T54 events and silver medal in 800 m T54.<ref name=":0" />

IPC Athletics World championships

Sauvage competed at three IPC Athletics World Championships. At the 1994 Championships in Berlin, Germany, she won four gold medals in T53 events - 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m and Marathon.<ref name=":0" /> At the 1998 Championships in Birmingham, England, she won six gold medals in 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, Marathon - T55 events, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 400 m (T54-55).<ref name=":0" /> At her final Championships in 2002 at Lille, France, she won gold medal in 800 m T54 and silver medals in 1500 m and 5000 m T54.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

Road racing

1993 was Sauvage's first year on the international wheelchair racing circuit, competing in the US and Europe.<ref name="perthnow.com.au">Louise Sauvage steering WA's Madison de Rozario to Paralympic gold</ref> It was also the year that she got her first kneeling wheelchair.<ref name="aged-3-67" /> The pinnacle being the world-famous Boston Marathon where she recorded her first victory, in the women's wheelchair division, in 1997, breaking the stranglehold of the 'Queen of Boston', US racer Jean Driscoll. Sauvage went on to win a further three Boston titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001.<ref name=aotd-sauvage-5 /><ref name="perthnow.com.au" /><ref name=Wheelchair-Sports-AU-7 /> She has won the Los Angeles Marathon, Honolulu Marathon and Berlin Marathon.<ref name=lifestyle-book>Lifestyle choices: A positive approach to healthy living – self-management, diet, exercise. (2005). Balcatta, W. A: R. I. C. Publications.</ref> Sauvage won the prestigious Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race ten times – 1993–1999 and 2001–2003.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demonstration events

From 1993 to 2001, Sauvage won every IAAF wheelchair demonstration event at IAAF World Athletics Championships.<ref name=disability-athlete-93>Template:Cite book</ref> In that same period, she also won the demonstration events for wheelchair racing in the 800 metre race at the Olympic games.<ref name=unbeaten-8>Template:Cite book</ref> The 800 metre event does not require that athletes stay in their lanes after the first turn. For this reason, athletes like Sauvage are required to wear helmets when racing. In 2000, Sauvage won the Olympic demonstration event and was expected to win the Paralympic gold. She was upset by Canadian Chantal Petitclerc.<ref name="unbeaten-8" /> The Australian delegation appealed the result, claiming the race was not fair because another racer, Ireland's Patrice Dockery, was disqualified for leaving her lane too early. The appeal was rejected, because Dockery was too far behind the front runners to impact the results. Sport academics who research the Paralympic Games consider this protest to be pivotal, because it shows the passion of athletes to win and the extent that sports people will go to claim gold. It also highlighted that the rivalries in the sport were real. Petitclerc said of her rivalry with Sauvage that "I dream more about Louise than I do my boyfriend." In 2002, Petitclerc beat Sauvage again at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, where the 800 metre event was a full medal event at the games for the first time. It was only the second time that Sauvage had lost to Petitclerc.<ref name=unbeaten-9>Template:Cite book</ref>

Training

Wheel chair race

Australian T53 wheelchair athlete Louise Sauvage competes in the marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games.

Sauvage trained 10 to 14 hours a week when she was actively competing. Her training was very focused, and she attempted to make it fun to help her maintain interest.<ref name="disability-athlete-93" /> She often trained six days a week. Her training included boxing, swimming and racing between 25 and 35 km in a single session.<ref name=lifestyle-book />

Frank Ponta was one of Sauvage's first coaches.<ref name=para-dies>Template:Cite news</ref> She was subsequently coached by Jenni Banks, who oversaw much of Sauvage's development as an elite wheelchair athlete, from her first international success at the World Games in Assen in 1990, to her best ever medal tally at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Atlanta in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Andrew Dawes was her coach after the 1996 Paralympics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Coaching career

After her retirement from competition, she became involved in coaching young wheelchair athletes,<ref name="perthnow.com.au" /> establishing a foundation to help support children with disabilities in 2001.<ref name=Wheelchair-Sports-AU-7>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2004, Sauvage started coaching other wheelchair athletes. The first athlete that she coached was Angie Ballard. Sauvage's coaching helped Ballard win gold 400 m and silver in the 100 m, 200 m, 800 m and 1500 m at the Summer Down Under Series in 2005.<ref name=eales-7 />

Sauvage has attended several international competitions as a coach. She was an athletics coach with the Australian team 2008 Beijing Games<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships. She is currently Wheelchair Track & Road Elite Development Coach at the New South Wales Institute of Sport and coaches Madison de Rozario.

Retirement

File:Sydney Basketball - Louise Sauvage.JPG

As a wheelchair basketball player for the Stacks Goudcamp Bears in the WNWBL in 2013

During her retirement from being an athlete, Sauvage created a consulting company that she works for.<ref name="Disability-Sport-94" /> In 2010, Sauvage was a speaker at the IPC Women in Sport Summit. She spoke alongside Amy Winters and Jayme Paris.<ref name=IPC-women-21>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In February 2011, Sauvage participated in the Charter Hall Malabar Magic Ocean Swim. The event was created to raise funds for Rainbow Club. It was Sauvage's first ocean swim. She finished the 1 km race in 25:19.<ref name=sauvage-swim />

In 2011, as part of the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project of the National Library of Australia, Ian Jobling conducted an extensive interview with Sauvage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Disability rights

Sauvage and Paul Nunnar lobbied Virgin Blue during 2006 to drop a requirement that people in wheelchairs be accompanied by a carer if they wish to ride on a Virgin Blue aircraft. Previously, both athletes had tried to lobby Qantas to lift a limit of only two electric wheelchairs on domestic flights flying on Boeing 737s. The pair were ineffective because the change would have required a change in law, not in airline policy. Sauvage and Nunnar did receive an invitation to help train Qantas staff and help make staff more aware of the needs of disabled people.<ref name=eales-7 />

Recognition

Sauvage was the Australian Paralympian of the Year in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998.<ref name="disability-athlete-93" /> She was also the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Athlete of the year in 1997 and in 2001 inducted into the AIS 'Best of the Best'.<ref>Australian Institute of Sport 'Best of the Best' Template:Webarchive</ref> In 1998, she won the Australian of the Year Award in the ABIGGRIUOP National Sports Award category.<ref name="disability-athlete-93" /> In 2000, Sauvage was named the Female Athlete of the Year in the Sport Australia Awards.<ref name="aussie-women-cd-4B" /> In 2000, she was named the "World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability" at the first Laureus Sports Awards held in Monte Carlo.<ref name="aotd-sauvage-5" /> In 1999 and 2000, she was named the International Female Athlete of the Year.<ref name="disability-athlete-93" /> She was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

At the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Sauvage lit the cauldron during the opening ceremonies for the games.<ref name=aotd-sauvage-5 /> In 2004, Sauvage carried the Australian flag into the stadium at the 2004 Summer Paralympics.<ref name=daily-graph-freya>FREYA, GRANT. "Louise will lead Paralympic team in opening ceremony – Sauvage to fly flag for Australia – Paralympics 2004 – 2 days to go". The Daily Telegraph (n.d.).</ref>

In 2001, the State Transit Authority named a SuperCat ferry after Sauvage.<ref name="Wheelchair-Sports-AU-7" /> The Louise Sauvage Pathway, a Template:Convert wheelchair-accessible bicycle and walking path within Sydney Olympic Park, is also named in her honour.<ref>Playing for keeps Template:Webarchive (8 March 2003)</ref> Sauvage and New South Wales Treasurer Michael Egan christened the park on 6 March 2003.<ref name=park-open>N.A. "NSW: Louise Sauvage helps Egan launch pathway". AAP General News (n.d.).</ref>

She was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2001<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, Sauvage was awarded Legend status in the New South Wales Hall of Champions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2011, she was one of the first people to be inducted into the Australian Paralympian Hall of Fame, along with Frank Ponta and George Bedbrook.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, she was inducted into the International Paralympic Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2014, she was inducted into the Athletics Australia Hall of Fame<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre Path of Champions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In November 2018, Sauvage was awarded Sport NSW Coach of the Year. Young Athlete of the Year with a Disability.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2019, Sauvage was made a Legend in the Sport Australia Hall of Fame. She became the first Australian Paralympian to be awarded Legend status.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sauvage was awarded Paralympics Australia 2020 Coach of the Year.<ref name="pa2022">Template:Cite web</ref>

In November 2021, she was awarded New South Wales Institute of Sport Coach of the Year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025, she was an inaugural inductee of the Stadium Australia Hall of Fame.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Several Paralympians cite Sauvage as inspiring them to become athletes, including wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley.<ref name=inspiring-65>Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Template:Sports links
• Template:Australian Women and Leadership
• Review of My Story by Louise Sauvage
• Louise Sauvage - She's Game website
• Louise Sauvage interviewed by Ian Jobling in the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, National Library of Australia, 2011