Robert de castella biography of michael

“It makes me feel very proud to be inducted and to be joining such elite company”

Multiple Paralympic alpine skiing champion, Australia’s faster ever skier Michael Milton OAM, will be inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame on Thursday (9 October).

Along with Bill Lawry AM and the previously announced master swimming coach Denis Cotterell, sports scientist Dick Telford and four others, Milton will join the elite sporting club at its annual Induction and Awards Gala Dinner, presented by Etihad Airways. Induction represents one of the highest national sporting honours that can be bestowed upon an individual, with the annual dinner the largest collective gathering of Australian sporting champions and luminaries. This event in Melbourne will be the 30th edition.

One of Australia’s most versatile athletes, Michael Milton’s achievements are legendary not just for the results but for the sheer extent of his exploits.

They would be considered awesome for any athlete - with or without an impairment but just yet another challenge on each occasion for Milton who lost a leg to bone cancer diagnosed at nine years of age.

Milton competed in five Winter Paralympic Games between 1988, when he debuted in his first international competition at just 14-years-old, and 2006 - collecting six gold, three silver and two bronze medals.

At IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships he won eleven medals - again six of them gold.

In 2006 he set a speed skiing record of 213.65 kilometres per hour - faster than any able bodied skier had achieved in Australia. At the 25th anniversary of the Australian Institute of Sport that year he was acknowledged as one of its 25 greatest graduates. Few would argue and few could challenge his breadth of achievement.

He then discarded his winter woollies and despite less than 12 months before having undergone extensive surgery, chemo and radio therapy for a new cancer, competed in the Summer

The times I stood on the victory dais as the Australian flag was raised and the national anthem played are cherished memories that will stay with me forever.

But my work with the Indigenous Marathon Project is far more important.

The situation for our Indigenous community is a national disgrace. It is a horrific, dark scar that we have in this beautiful, bright country. Chronic disease, premature death and mental health issues are rampant.

I’m not equipped to solve the difficult issues the community is confronted with, but I know that everything can be improved by running and the sense of self-worth you get from exercise.

Any normal person would train for four years before they run their first marathon.

Each year, we train a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island men and women. They come from right around Australia – major cities, country towns and the most remote communities. After just six months, they run their first marathon.

And not just any marathon – the New York City Marathon. We don’t select our runners for their athletic ability. What we identify in each member of the team is a sense of purpose and a capacity to become a leader.

That’s what this is all about: empowering them to become drivers of change in their families and communities.

Just getting them passports can be a challenge. Some members of the team don’t have birth certificates when they are selected.

This year, we selected a team of ten to run in New York. They all overcame unique challenges and finished the race.

Getting to the finish line is just the start.

PRIDE, HOPE & SELF-WORTH

I retired a long time ago. We’ve had some good runners since then but no other Aussie has really pushed for a world record or a gold medal at the world championships.

In 2010, I was asked an interesting question by a documentary maker, ‘Can we find an Ab

Michael Milton was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2014 as an Athlete Member and was elevated to Legend of Australian Sport in 2024 for his contribution to the sport of Alpine Skiing (Para Athlete).

Michael Milton was Australia’s most successful Paralympic athlete at the Winter Games, winning 11 medals (including six golds) from five appearances.
His alpine skiing dominance provided an inspiration for both disabled and able-bodied athletes, not just for his determination and never-say-die attitude in competition but also for the way he encountered – and overcome – significant personal obstacles.
Having had his left leg amputated when he was nine, when fighting bone cancer, Milton refused to let his life-changing moment stop him from embarking on an extraordinary career.
It took him to five winter Paralympics – the first when he was two months short of his 15th birthday – and also to one summer Paralympics, when he swapped skiing for cycling.
In all, Milton won a full assortment of medals in his Paralympic journey, with six gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
He made history at Albertville, France in 1992 as the first Australian to win a winter Paralympic gold medal – in the Slalom – before backing up that performance with a second gold two years later in Lillehammer, Norway in the Giant Slalom.
He won a clean sweep of four gold medals at Salt Lake City, US, in 2002 – taking out the Slalom, Giant Slalom, Downhill and Super G.
Then after retiring from alpine skiing, and fighting cancer for a second time, Milton turned his attention towards cycling.
He went on to make the 2008 Paralympics team in Beijing, competing in three different events at the age of 35.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1993, was Australian Paralympian of the Year and World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability in 1992, and was inducted into Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2022.

Mi

Australian long-distance runner

Francois Robert de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion marathon runner.

De Castella is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" to the Australian public, and "Tree" to his competitors due to his thick legs and inner calm. He holds the Oceanic record for the marathon.

Early life

De Castella is of French and Swiss-French descent. His family were part of both the French nobility and Swiss nobility. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the eldest of seven children. Sport was a way of life in his family – his father Rolet ran marathons in the 1950s. His mother Anne was a state-level tennis player. His brother Nicholas, took part in four World Cross Country Championships, whereas brother Anthony competed in running at club level for more than 25 years. Rob de Castella attended Xavier College in Melbourne where he was an outstanding track athlete and trained under Pat Clohessy from the age of 11.

Marathon career

De Castella wanted to represent Australia at the Olympics in Moscow and reckoned his best chance was in the marathon. He won the Australian championship and finished second in the Australian Olympic trials to gain a place on the 1980 Olympic team.

1980 Olympic Games Moscow

At his first big international marathon competition, DeCastella finished 10th in a time of 2:14:31, in a field of 74 runners. 21 competitors did not finish.

1981 Fukuoka Marathon

De Castella first came to international attention whe