Inspirational Penrith athlete Nathan Pentecost will depart the country on Friday, bound for South Korea as he tackles his next sporting adventure.
After representing his country in three other sports previously, the 40-year-old will don the green and gold in wheelchair curling for the very first time.
Next week’s 2024 Asia Wheelchair Curling Championship will not only be a history-making moment for the Thornton resident but for Team Australia as well, who – as a country – have never competed on the world curling stage before.
Pentecost and his teammates were originally set to make their curling debuts at the World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Finland this month, however huge costs to travel to the northern Europe destination put that dream on ice.
“We weren’t able to raise the money for Finland but then we discovered there was another competition in South Korea that we could enter,” Pentecost told the Weekender.
“We’ll still be representing Australia but it’s a smaller competition and it’s probably best we do a competition of this size considering it will be our first one.
“There are five teams taking part and there’s five members in our Australian team. Most of my teammates are from Western Australia, but there is another guy from NSW like me.”
Helping him achieve his dream of representing Australia again is the generosity of the local community, who helped him raise a whopping $6000 to cover costs associated with the trip.
“I would like to thank the Penrith community for supporting me otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get there,” Pentecost said.
“A few local businesses came on board as well as the general public. I appreciate all the Penrith community for supporting me like they always do. I’m very thankful and grateful.”
Pentecost will be looking to do Penrith proud when Australia hit the rink for the first time at the Asia Wheelchair Curling Championships.
Next week’s competition, which runs from November 11-15, will be a massive challenge for Australia who haven’t been able to train as a team in the lead up to the event.
“We haven’t been able to train together in person, but I’ve been doing my own training twice a week at the gym,” Pentecost said.
“We’re heading over a couple of days prior, so hopefully we get some ice time in. It’s not the ideal situation, but I’ve been doing all that I can – watching YouTube videos and trying to simulate as much as possible in training.
“We’re all kind of in the same boat, we just have to see how we go. It’s our first competition. I’m not promising a medal but there’s five teams, so the odds are in our favour.”
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.