Jamieson Leeson (born 18 March 2003) is an Australian boccia player. She represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.[1] She won a gold and silver medal at the 2022 World Championships.
 Jamieson Leeson in 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |  Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 18 March 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boccia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | BC3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editShe was born on 18 March 2003 with spinal muscular atrophy.[2] She uses a wheelchair and her mother, Amanda, is her primary carer. The rugby league's Men of League Foundation provided her family with a customised van with specialist wheelchair lift to help her daily transport.[3] She grew up in Dunedoo, New South Wales and attended Dunedoo Central School.[4][5] In 2024, she is studying a Bachelor of Economics full-time at the University of New South Wales.[6]
Boccia
editShe began playing in 2018 where she was scouted in a school's knock out competition in Orange, New South Wales and trains in Sydney under Australia's Boccia Head Coach Ken Halliday.[2] In March 2019, Jamieson competed in her first ever boccia competition, winning gold in pairs.[4] She has won silver medals in the singles and pairs at the 2019 Boccia Australia National Titles.[4]
In May 2019, she won a bronze medal in the pairs at the Hong Kong World Open.[4] In July, she competed in both the pairs and individual events at the Seoul Asia-Oceania Regional Championships, winning her first ever international individual game against a Paralympic gold medalist.[4] At just 16, Jamieson has been the youngest person ever to represent Australia in boccia.[7] In 2021, she received a Tier 3 Scholarship within the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship & Mentoring Program.[4]
At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she teamed with Daniel Michel and Spencer Cotie in the Mixed Pairs BC3, where they won 2 and lost 2 matches but failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Leeson won the silver medal in the Women's BC3 and the gold medal in the Mixed Pairs BC3 at the 2022 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro. She lost 2–6 to Anna Costa in the final of the Women's BC3.[8]
She competed at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris with her ramp assistant Jasmine Haydon.[9] She won silver in the Women's Individual Bc3, Australia's best ever performance in boccia.[10][11] Leeson and Daniel Michel lost in the Mixed pairs BC3 quarter-finals.
Recognition
editIn 2023, Leeson with Daniel Michel was awarded the Sport NSW Team of the Year with a Disability[12] and Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards Team of the Year.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Australian Boccia Players Ready To 'Shake Things Up' At Tokyo 2020". Paralympics Australia. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Jamieson Leeson". Paralympics Australia. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- ^ "Lifting the spirits of Jamieson Leeson and her family". Men of League. September 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f "Jamieson Leeson". Sport Australia Hall of Fame. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- ^ "Dunedoo's Jamieson Leeson will represent Australia at the Hong Kong Boccia World Open". Daily Liberal. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- ^ Australia, Boccia. "Jamieson Leeson". www.boccia.com.au. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Jamieson Leeson is living the dream as an international athlete". Cerebral Palsy Alliance. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
- ^ "2022 World Championships Results". World Boccia. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ "World Champion Boccia Stars Confirmed For Paris 2024 | Paralympics Australia". www.paralympic.org.au. 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
- ^ "Paris Paralympics 2024: Australia's Daniel Michel, Jamieson Leeson win boccia silver". www.nine.com.au. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ Decent, Tom (2 September 2024). "Double silver for Michel and Leeson on historic day for Australian boccia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ NSW, Sport. "FOX AND PARKER SWEEP NSW SPORTS AWARDS". www.sportnsw.com.au. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
- ^ "Swimming makes a big splash at AIS Performance Awards". Australian Sports Commission. Australian Institute of Sport Australian Sports. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
