- I'm William. I'm a Paralympian in 400m and long jump. I have cerebral palsy. That means that my muscles, right and left, but particularly my left, are less strong and coordinated. I do love the challenge of trying to run and jump as far as I can. (UPLIFTING MUSIC) www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2024 (YEARNING ELECTRO MUSIC) I mean, I've always loved doing sport. As a kid, I played cricket in the summer and football in the winter. I've been doing athletics for nine years now. Yeah, I love it. I tripped over a lot as a kid. I would roll one way as a baby and crash into a wall and just start crying, cos I couldn't roll the other way because my muscles are kind of, you know, couldn't do it. And when I was 12 and watching the Paralympics, I remember this moment I had where I was like, 'Oh, wait, I've got cerebral palsy... 'I love sport. The Paralympics look pretty awesome.' - ANNOUNCER: Final of the Men's 400m ` T36. - Four years after that ` Rio. - Will Stedman, a 16-year-old from New Zealand. A star on the rise... - I was quite young then... kind of terrified. - ...inspired by watching the London Paralympics. Well, now they're away. - It was pretty awesome. It was close across the line, so I wasn't 100% sure what medal I had. - ...and Stedman from New Zealand ` the bronze. - Yeah, I was pretty stoked with that bronze in the 400m and the 800m. I got the World Championships in Paris this year. (FUNKY TECHNO MUSIC) My coach is George Edwards. He's great. - Good thing about having those flash-coloured shoes... you can see when his feet start moving, heh. I first met Will in 2014. This gangly teenager came up to me and said, 'Hello, I'm Will. I want to do long jump.' - That was too quick. - Bit quick. Which took me aback a bit, because I'd noticed he was dragging his left foot. I wasn't really sure how I would manage that. Initially I just thought, well, I'd just try and coach him as I normally would, and then see what complications there are from his disability. It turned out he was very capable. Ooh! - That was better. - That's spot on, yep. - Sweet. - 33.3. - Sweet. - I've never met an athlete like him. If I tell him to run at a certain time, he's usually within a second of it, which is pretty rare. And when you get someone like him, they only come along once in a lifetime. - That's pretty good again, I think. - So you gotta make the most of it, I guess. Yeah. Set... (WATCH BEEPS) Go! - I'm heading over to Europe end of May, and I'll be there for about six or seven weeks before the World Championships, competing and training. I'm doing the long jump and the 400m. - Our target is two medals. It's just a matter of what colour. (CHUCKLES) That's not bad. 32.7. - Nice. - Will and I, somehow or rather, we seem to be on the same wavelength. And, um... yeah, we're good friends. - This will be my fourth World Championships. (BREATHES FORCEFULLY) - All the way. Pump the arms. - Third Paralympic Games. - Wooh! - COMMENTATOR: William Stedman, out of Christchurch, the 21-year-old, was third in the 400 and 800 in Rio, and fifth in the long jump. - Tokyo was quite different, with COVID ` had a stress fracture in my back that changed the dynamic of things. (HIP-HOP MUSIC) - I didn't make it because of COVID. My wife said I was yelling and screaming at the television. It was very frustrating, as the TV coverage was bad. The TV chopped out for the last jump. Second! It was just unbelievable. - Seeing that '2nd' flash up was pretty cool. (GUITAR CHIMES GENTLY) I wonder what's in those treats, eh. - I know. They're like cocaine for cats. (CHUCKLES) - Yeah, I'm married to Annika. She's wonderful. We met at school, and, yeah, we got married at the start of last year ` 2022. - Four days after my 21st birthday, actually. - Yeah. - So that was my 21st party. - (CHUCKLES) - Annika and my marriage is more important than my sport. Because of athletics, I have to be away from Annika a bit sometimes, which is hard. But it is tricky, fitting different things in in a balanced way sometimes. Yeah. I really need to change the strings on this guitar. - You work very hard. Like, there's not many days that you are not putting hours in, either to university or to sport. Cos I've known you for such a long time, I knew what your life was before, like, I stepped into it. But there's been... maybe more time away. But it's definitely balanced out by the fact that when he's home, he's home and... around the house and all that kind of stuff, which kind of makes up for, you know, two months away at a time. - (CHUCKLES) It is the culmination of the hard work from, you know, the previous year or the previous years. I train Mondays, twice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays... Fridays... and Saturday. - (GIGGLES) - Twice sometimes. - Yeah. And you have competitions on the weekends sometimes. - Yeah. - We normally have Monday night off together. That's our, kind of, night off. I feel like the good thing about university is that even though we're both very busy with it, it's flexible, so we can often find time during the day. - (CHORTLES) Come on, Oscar. I'm studying electrical engineering. Third year. I've been doing that part-time since 2019. I really enjoy that. It's something quite different to athletics. I also really just enjoy understanding how things work. So this is, like, a power converter. We're trying to make the solar panel drive a motor. It's pretty cool understanding how electrical machines and cell phones and laptops and computers can kind of seem like magic, but actually understanding the principles behind it. Turn it on. (MOTOR WHIRRS) You see that runs it. There's also a control system to change it. So if I` Uh... See, the waveform changes. (MOTOR WINDS DOWN) Uh, yeah, I really enjoy it. It's real cool not just doing theory. You know, you actually get to build something physical and see how it runs. And also with this sort of thing, you can very easily see the utility of it in the real world. At a high level, there's some similarities between an engineering kind of brain and sport, or at least the mechanics of running and jumping well. (RELAXED ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC) - Hi, guys. - Hello. - How are you? - Good to see ya. How are you? - Hello darling` - Good. How are you? My parents were very` like, they treated me as a normal kid, really. And I found that really good. This food looks good. - All right, come and sit down. - Everyone's ready? Lunch is served. - Sweet. - Father God, thank you for this chance to gather and have this meal together. Be with Will as he travels. Thank you for this time. Amen. - ALL: Amen. - We worked out that William had cerebral palsy as a preschooler. As a 5-year-old, he used to have trouble hopping on his left leg because it was weaker. And then he practised. And then he suddenly said, 'Oh, if I practise, I could do it.' - Mm. - But then it was just amazing when William watched the London Paralympics. He was like, 'Oh, Mum, those people run just like me! 'I think I'm that classification. - (CHUCKLES) - 'I think I could be a Paralympian. What do you think?' And we just said, 'yeah, sure,' you know? As you do, in our heads thinking, 'That's a bit unlikely.' But` (LAUGHS) - The other thing I think that's been really good, William's owned the journey. And we've been there to facilitate and help, but I think you've really owned it, Will. And I think that's been a key part. - It's been an amazing journey. But I think what is quite hard, as family watching, is knowing that there have been all those years of work and it all comes down to, you know, 50 seconds (LAUGHS) and how it goes in that 50 seconds. So that's quite stressful watching. - We did something a little bit different this time. We had more of a longer build-up in Europe beforehand. It was nice to be out of the Christchurch winter. These World Champs are pretty high stakes. Really important for qualifying for the Paralympics next year. The focus has been a lot on injury prevention. You know, I've been out of New Zealand since May, and I haven't actually seen a physio until now and haven't got injured at all. I've had uninterrupted training. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to competing in about a week's time. My parents are staying in Marseilles. Well, I think they're taking the train today and then they're gonna` They're staying on the outskirts. Cerebral palsy is quite a broad term. It encompasses a lot of different things. But when I start running, it becomes quite apparent that` (CHUCKLES) my limbs don't work quite as they normally should, I guess. The left leg is definitely weaker because of the CP. But I think we've worked very hard over the last few years, ironing out all the weak spots as much as possible. - Go! We're videoing and timing Will to analyse where the little improvements are gonna come in. Surprisingly, when he runs, his impediment on his left side is less obvious. It's still there, but it's not as obvious as when he walks. Um, which is pretty amazing, I think. Nice triple extension... move of the feet. - For athletics, there's nine cerebral palsy categories. So I'm a T36, all four limbs, and it's quite coordination-related. - Set... Go! According to the physio, it tends to be scattered through his body. It's not consistently in one place. And that creates problems with training. He can get a reaction because we may have overloaded his CP in a certain spot in his body. We've got to be careful. - Just had some university exams in Belgium. So, I've had two exams while I've been overseas, which has meant I've had to, um, study as well as train and compete and travel. So it's definitely a bit of a balancing act, but I think I handled it OK and the exams went alright, I think, so it's good to have them done now, and to be kind of able to fully focus on the competition coming up. (TENSE AMBIENT MUSIC) - I haven't seen him in about two months, so seeing him come out was` first time in-person in a long time, and it's the first time we've done something this long since we've been married, so` Yeah, it was` it's intense, but it's so worth it. (URGENT STRING MUSIC) - We all start getting nervous at this stage... but excited. Excited. - ANNOUNCER: Heat Two of the Men's 400m ` T36. - Set... (GUNSHOT) (POUNDING, PERCUSSIVE MUSIC) - His plan was to go really fast for the first 200 and then hopefully cruise for the second 200. - Still, it's a bit terrifying when you see him, like, looking back, cos you're never supposed to do that, but he was just jogging over the line at the end, which is really good. - That was pretty much what we planned. We didn't want him to go flat-out. Just enough to qualify for the final. - I haven't quite nailed that first half of the race yet. It's definitely given me a lot of confidence. (TENSE AMBIENT MUSIC) - ANNOUNCER: The Men's 400m ` T36 final. Representing New Zealand ` William Stedman. - It's quite surreal that you spend years training for an event that's effectively over in less than a minute. - Set... (GUNSHOT) (POUNDING, PERCUSSIVE MUSIC) - COMMENTATOR: William Stedman has got a very good rhythm himself. New Zealander is working his way up well... - I think it's probably the best I've performed in a 400 at a major event. - GEORGE: Will's target, of course, is gold... - ANNOUNCER: As they come into the home straight, it's Turner who leads from Stedman. It's a two-horse race at the moment` - ...and it's feasible, but in the 400, the Australian runner is in a class of his own, really. - World record of 51.71. Turner's gonna take it. 17 seconds, and coming through in third place is Chavez of Argentina. - Will's getting closer and closer, but we're still trying a lot of things to narrow the gap. - Very impressive. Sorry, still shaking a little bit from it. - (CHUCKLES) - To have it all come down to one minute, it's pretty terrifying. - 400s... they hurt, you know, a lot. But that's just part of it. - It's his first silver in the 400m, so we're thrilled. - So we're thrilled. - We're absolutely thrilled about that. So, he's had lots of bronzes and silver in the long jump, but his first silver in the 400. - 400's a running race. There's one shot at it. Long jump's different cos you've got at least three goes at it. - ANNOUNCER: William Stedman... (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) - I just want him to do the best he possibly he can. (CROWD CLAPS RHYTHMICALLY) (TENSE STRING MUSIC) (CROWD EXCLAIMS) - When you're actually, like, at the tracker at the stadium, like watching him, you're like, 'OK, now I kind of` I get it.' (STRING MUSIC BUILDS) You get caught up in the emotion of it as well, which is like, it's pretty` it's a roller coaster. (MOUTHS) - COMMENTATOR: New Zealand's William Stedman, his second silver medal of the week. - ANNOUNCER: For New Zealand, William Stedman. - I was really happy, immensely, with how I handled it. Yeah, I kind of pulled it out when it mattered. (UPBEAT ALT-COUNTRY MUSIC) - Two silver medals, so can't complain. In the long jump, it was extremely competitive, and Will managed to get up and do his best jump for quite some time. I'm planning his training schedule. It has to be periodised, so we have light week, medium week, heavy week. Depending on how Will reacts to what we're doing, it's often changing continuously. And we have to sort of plan-in when there are competitions and things. We've got a fantastic team. We call ourselves Team Steady, cos Steady's Will's nickname. - Hey, Steady. How you doin'? - Good. Steady? Yeah, I can't remember how that started. Just stuck early on and it's been there ever since. Nice. - So we just go three times five... - Yeah. - ... three times five, then three times four. - I think it's a bit of irony there. (CHUCKLES) You know, this is cerebral palsy. I got called Wobbly to start with, I think. (CHUCKLES) Everyone calls me Steady now, and it just seems the same to me as calling me Will or William. - What about you? What have you been up to? - Had my, like, final assignment thing to get in last night, which I... finished off. - You all done? - Yeah, all done for over a year. - That's good, matey. - I'm narrowing my focus a bit for a year. Putting the study on hold. Next year's gonna be pretty big. When you're in that Paralympic environment, it's all about sport. There's a huge team of about 10 people behind me. I've got physio teams and nutrition and mental skills and physiology and life help with, you know, uni and that sort of thing. My strength and conditioning coach, Sim, he's a real big part of the program and deciding what I'm doing. - So basically, between George, Will's coach, Will, and the other guys in the team, we pretty much sit around a table as a group and build a program. Essentially, we're trying to make Will as powerful as possible and able to maintain as high a power output as possible. - I know there's big differences in exercises. I feel it on the track. For my CP, it also makes a difference. Definitely improved my overall ability to move, as a person, not just from a sport perspective. - A lot of, at the moment, what we're working on is for his long jump ` his acceleration; his contact times on the ground; maximising the amount of force Will can exert on the ground. - Probably trying to open up a little more here... - Jimmy, he's been working with me and George around some long jump techniques. - We use a mat. Still get a little bit of lift` - So we'll use the mats the whole time? - We'll use the box first, and then we use the mats. - GEORGE: We're gonna put more emphasis on the long jump, because I think that's probably where we can be more successful. But the competition is still going to be pretty fierce. That wasn't bad! Yeah. - It felt pretty good, yeah. - Like, he's nailed this thing pretty quickly, eh? - I think I've got a better chance of potentially getting gold in the long jump. - It's just giving yourself a sense of timing there, just feel like you're not in a rush. - But that's not at all to say that I'm giving up on the 400m. I'm still training hard for it, and I think I can still win a medal. - Look at that, rakes his own pit and everything. - (LAUGHS) - The people I have working there, they're all top of their game, I think, and have contributed well so far and I'm sure will continue to, and they've all got Will's best interests at heart. Having a team like that, you almost feel invincible. - It's an inter-club competition at Nga Puna Wai. There's nothing huge riding on this. Bit of a training run-out, I guess, yeah. This is all able-bodied, so yeah, I'll probably get smashed. (CHUCKLES) - Yeah, I'll be watching for` particularly for his start. I want to him to get out quickly, drive hard off the blocks, get his arms working as big and as fast as he can. But it's really just a way of putting a wee bit more pressure on him to go a bit faster. (ELECTRONIC GUNSHOT) (FUNKY HOUSE MUSIC) Mm. Start needs a bit of work. (GIGGLES) - Here we go. - How did the comp go? - It was OK. Well, the start was pretty terrible. But that's fine. It's pretty early on. Yeah, this is gonna be a big year. So yeah, it's pretty busy. I'll be away for quite a bit. - We don't actually have that many evenings where we're at home together, which often means that I cook during the day and then he'll cook for himself at night. But... that's the way it works out. Do you want to get a ramekin and do the soy garlic mix? - After getting married, things have changed a little bit. I think it's different because I have to be away from Annika a bit sometimes, which can be` which is hard, but yeah, she's been real supportive. I am terrible at wrapping these up. - Yes, I don't know how you're so bad at it. - (CHORTLES) It was great having her, you know, come and watch me at World Championship. Ugh... no! All right. I'm gonna give up and get a fork. - Can I just roll you one? I feel like I can roll you one. - No, no. I'm good. I'm not actually too hungry. I think one will be enough for me. (POIGNANT PIANO MUSIC) - I get the desire to achieve. I also see some of the really cool things that come with sport. It's stressful, but, like, nothing beats watching him succeed. That's pretty exciting. - It'll be a big challenge in 2024, with a World Champs and a Paralympics. I'm excited for it, but also a little bit nervous. I mean, it's been amazing really, being able to compete and travel and kind of work on being the best athlete I can be. I find that quite satisfying. It's been awesome. Captions by Alex Backhouse. Edited by Maia Carr Heke. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.