My name is Jamieson Leeson, I am 21 years old and I have a disability called spinal muscular atrophy. Growing up as a kid, I was always cheering on my brother and sister in their sports from the sideline, until I discovered boccia.

My journey with boccia began at the age of 15, and quickly escalated with me competing at the Tokyo Paralympics at 18, where I was the youngest boccia athlete. Since then, I have had many successes including winning a gold and silver at the world championships in 2022 and being world number one in the pairs with my teammate Daniel Michel.

My ultimate goal in boccia is to be the first person ever to bring home a gold medal from the Paralympics in for Australia in boccia. I am honoured to have been selected to compete at the Paris 2024 Paralympics this year and with your support I truly believe I can achieve my goal! Achieving this goal would not only mean so much to me, but would make such a difference for those living with disabilities to show them that regardless of how severe your disability is, there is a sport available to you. I hope to make para sports more accessible to those with disabilities, and winning a gold would help me achieve this.

To be on track to win Paralympic gold I need to attend 3-4 international competitions each year and provide myself with the best training environment and equipment possible. Not only do I train 20+ hours a week, but I am also currently studying a Bachelor of Economics full-time at UNSW, hence I lack the ability to generate a sufficient income. Whilst my previous performances have attracted some funding from the government, there are still many expenses that I rely on your support to allow me to do my best.

I feel very privileged to be able to say I am participating in the Aussie Athlete Fund’s Million Dollar Challenge powered by Ampol, where I hope to raise $10,000 to contribute to the $1 million that will support Aussie athletes. The $1 Million Dollar Challenge will help us athletes overcome financial barriers to ensure we have every opportunity to do our best.

Throughout this challenge, I will work together with the Australian business VERTO who will help fundraise, network, mentor and support me to help me get to Paris. Together, VERTO and I will work together to raise the necessary funds to cover my training, travel, equipment and competition costs.

For more information, click here to read about the

Million Dollar Challenge or watch this short video from Nat.