Austin McKenzie

Milano Cortina 2026 will be Austin’s first Paralympic Games, having taken up wheelchair curling just over two years earlier.

Previously a keen wheelchair basketball player, Austin played for Glasgow Rocks and Lothian Phoenix clubs in the national premier division. Then in October 2023 he received an email – through wheelchair basketball contacts – about a come-and-try-day for wheelchair curling, which he decided to attend.

An avid board gamer – he confesses to owning hundreds of games, his favourite being ‘Too Many Bones’ – Austin immediately enjoyed the tactical and strategic side of wheelchair curling and was keen to learn more about the sport. Austin was invited back to attend a Performance Pathway trial session, which he loved.

Soon he was invited to train with the squad at British Curling’s HQ in Stirling, and Austin’s progress was such that within a year he was selected as Scotland’s vice skip for the 2025 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Stevenston, Ayrshire, where the team finished in seventh place.