Dan Wins Bronze!

Australia won its first medal in Boccia since the Atlanta Paralympics 25 years ago when Dan Michel, competing at his second Games, won bronze in the Mixed Individual BC3 at Tokyo!  It was also Australia’s first individual medal in Boccia! 

Dan showed great skill, tactical expertise, superb communication and teamwork with ramp assistant Ash McClure in this competition.  Boccia is a precision target ball sport similar to lawn bowls. The aim of Boccia is for athletes in a wheelchair to propel leather balls as close as possible to a white ball or “jack”.  We are proud to be a corporate supporter of Daniel and excited to see his great performance in Tokyo!

Dan said of his performance at Tokyo, “I definitely feel a deep sense of pride in my achievement after all of the work I have put in and to be the first ever individual medallist for Australia is very special. It was so surreal to be involved in such a massive global event especially during covid times. I felt privileged to be involved in something that brought so much joy to so many people during such a difficult time.”

When asked what it felt like to be part of the Boccia team and the Australian Paralympic team, Dan said that “it was a real buzz. Being the only person on the Boccia team with previous Paralympic experience meant that I was able to really relish and feed off the energy and excitement of my teammates. I thought we all conducted ourselves very professionally and I am proud of the entire Australian team for the way we represented Australia.”

With Paris 2024 coming up, Daniel said that he will definitely be focused on competing “…of course. Tokyo only whet the appetite!”

Daniel, who recently finished quarantine, said that he will be “… looking forward to celebrating with family and friends after this period. The people that have been there for the whole journey and have supported me every step of the way!”

Congratulations on your Bronze medal Dan!