Background
Deahnne Mary McIntyre was born with spina bifida on 9 June 1971 in Canberra as a twin into a family of six children. McIntyre first became interested in sports at school. Her mother coached her in her early years.
Deahnne Mary McIntyre was born with spina bifida on 9 June 1971 in Canberra as a twin into a family of six children. McIntyre first became interested in sports at school. Her mother coached her in her early years.
She lives in the Canberra suburb of Conder, and works as a contract officer for the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. She carried the Australian flag at the 1988 Games, and later became an ambassador for the event. She was named Young Australian of the Year in 1985.
Australia Day Council Chairman John Newcombe described McIntyre as "an inspiration not only to the disabled but to the able bodied.
In 1990, she was an Australian Institute of Sport Athlete with a Disability scholarship holder. She competed at the World Championships and Games for the Disabled in Assen, Netherlands winning a bronze medal in Women"s 100m T1 and fourth in Women"s 400m T4.
After briefly competing in lawn bowls, she took up powerlifting shortly before the 2000 Sydney Games, the first Paralympics where women were allowed to compete in the sport. In the women"s over 82.5 kg powerlifting event, she came fifth at both the 2000 Games and the 2004 Athens Games, and fourth at the 2008 Beijing Games.
She was coached by Ray Epstein, and was one of few Australian female powerlifters.
She put her medal in the crematorium with her mother"s body, but four months after the final, she was asked to return it to receive a silver medal because the previous silver medallist had been disqualified. She retired from powerlifting in January 2011.