If Disney’s ‘Cool Runnings’ ever had a sequel, this could be it!
Penrith sporting hero Nathan Pentecost is back and this time, he’s swapping a football for a broom and stone.
The 40-year-old will represent Australia later this year at the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Finland.
It will be the first time Australia has ever fielded its own wheelchair curling team, and Pentecost is thrilled to be a part of it.
“This will be the fourth sport I’ll represent Australia in after wheelchair rugby league, wheelchair racing and powerlifting,” he told the Weekender.
“I’ve had a few health issues in recent years, so I had to medically retire from wheelchair rugby league, so I’m taking this up as my new sport.
“My mind still wants to compete and I needed to find something less taxing on my body, so I thought I’d give this a go.”
With less and less ice rinks around the country these days, curling is a niche sport in Australia to say the least.
Pentecost said he started to get interested in the sport after watching the 2022 Paralympics on television.
“I rang up the Australian Paralympic Committee after seeing it on TV and asked them if we had a team,” he recalled.
“They said they were planning to have a wheelchair curling team, but there’s lots of steps before the Paralympics but we’ll see how we go in November first.”
Pentecost flew to Western Australia in early July where he participated in a selection trial to make Australia’s first-ever wheelchair curling team.
After studying the game heavily via YouTube videos, Pentecost did just enough to make the four-person team.
“This was the first time that I had a go, and I was obviously good enough to get in,” Pentecost said.
“There’s four of us in the team, some have experience and some of us don’t.
“It’s a bit like a ‘Cool Runnings’ situation.”
Before he jets off to freezing Helsinki in northern Europe later this year, Pentecost will be doing everything in his power to get up to speed, to give he and Team Australia the best chance at succeeding.
“Hopefully I’ll have some training sessions in the lead up to the World Championships,” he said.
“There’s a lot to learn between now and then, so we’re going to have team meetings on Zoom and share some videos with each other.”
Pentecost is currently on the hunt for sponsors ahead of his upcoming overseas adventure.
If you think you can help, email him at [email protected].
Nathan Taylor
Nathan Taylor is the Weekender's Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.