Alberto Campbell PLY - Paralympian
About Alberto Campbell PLY
Alberto Campbell PLY is a Jamaican born elite athlete. He has represented Australia (2012-2021) and Jamaica (2021- to present) as an AWD (T20 category – Athletes with an Intellectual Impairment) in the 100m, 200m. 400m and 800m. The 400m is his main event.
He has represented Australia at 4 World Championships and 2 International Athletics Grand Prix and 1 Oceania Championships, competing in the 200m, 400m, 800m 4 x100m and 4 x 400m. In 2017 he was the Australian team captain for the 2017 11th INAS Athletic World Championships Team.
In 2021 he changed his IPC athletic allegiance to his country of birth – Jamaica.
In 2021 he became Jamaica’s first ever athlete with an intellectual disability to represent Jamaica at the Paralympics (Tokyo 2020).
In 2022 he will represent Australia at the Virtus Oceania-Asia Games to be held in his home city of Brisbane, Australia.
Campbell has won the Australian T20 400m championship title 8 times and the Queensland T20 400m championship title 11 times.
Alberto's Story
Alberto has overcome many obstacles, not just with his running, but in his life. He was born premature in Kingston, Jamaica and at 3 months of age was sent to a state run orphanage where at times he suffered from malnutrition and neglect. When he was 5 years of age he was transferred to The Nest, a Salvation Army run orphanage, where Alberto received love and care for the first time in his life. The Nest is situated on the same compound at the school where Paul and Julie-Anne Staines taught. Alberto attended this school for the blind, although he is not visually impaired, and it was here that he met Paul and Julie-Anne. Julie-Anne became his Grade 1 teacher!
In 2002 at the age of 9, they became a family when Paul and Julie-Anne adopted him. He still keeps in contact with some of his friends from The Nest. He came to Australia with his parents at the end of 2003 and received his Australian citizenship a little over three years later.
Returning to Australia
Alberto was ten when the family moved back to Australia, and he came across a number of challenges. Many 'new' things had to be addressed, such as: he had never been in a bath and didn’t know what to do, he had never seen hot water taps, he did not know how to dress for winter and was completely confused with why the children at school all wanted to feel his hair and tell him that it felt like carpet. Alberto had never even seen carpet before and now to be told his hair felt like it was bewildering!
When I run, I feel His pleasure
It wasn’t long before it was discovered that Alberto had the talent to run fast. At his first school athletics day in Australia he won every race. Since Alberto started running competitively he has had on his bedroom wall the famous words said by Eric Liddell “I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure”. Running to Alberto is an act of worship. Prayer before and after races is an intricate part of his race preparation. His parents often comment that to watch him run is to see a miracle in action, they have said that Alberto “is living proof that God’s power may save you from anything”.
While Alberto competes with Able Bodied Athletes on a regular basis at club and state level he is also able to compete as an AWD (Athlete With a Disability) in the T20 category. Athletes in the T20 category are classified as having an Intellectual disability. When asked about what it is like to be an Athlete With a Disability, Alberto responds with confidence, “Well, it’s who I am”.
Alberto became more serious about his running when he was 12 years old and since then has competed at club and state level as an Abled Bodied Athlete and at a national and international level as an AWD. He is expertly coached by Annette Rice and is a member of the QE2 Track club where he trains up to 6 days a week. Under Annette’s coaching, Alberto had great success at the 2012 Australian Open, AWD & Combined Events Championships that were held in Melbourne in mid April. This was the first open national championship he competed at as an AWD. Previously, in 2011, Alberto had competed at the Australian Junior AWD Championship obtaining results of 1st in the 400m and 2nd in the 100m and 200m in the under20 age group.
At the 2012 Australian Open, AWD & Combined Events Championships he was the only sprinter to enter in all 3 sprint events (100m, 200m & 400m) and the only sprinter to make it to the final in each event. He was amongst the youngest (18rys) competitor to compete. Alberto results were very impressive for his first ever Australian Open and AWD Championships, coming, 2nd in the 200m Ambulant Men’s, 3rd in the 400m Ambulant Men’s and 4th in the 100m Ambulant Men’s. He was also the 1st T20 athlete across the line in all these events making him the Open Australian Champion for the T20 category in the 100m, 200m and 400m events. At the end of the 2011/2012 athletes season his world ranking as a T20 athlete was nothing but impressive, 400m – 5th, 200m – 7th and 100m - 20th.
In 2013 Alberto continued his success as a Queensland Representative at the 91 Australian Open and AWD Championships in April. He once again was the 1st T20 athlete across the line in the 200m and 400m making him the Open Australian Champion for the T20 category in the 200m and 400m events. (Alberto had dropped the 100m event from his arsenal so as to better concentrate on his 400m, which continues to be his main and favourite event). Overall, in the combined percentage results he received the bronze for the 400m and silver for the 200m, running personal bests in both these finals.
9th INAS World Athletics Championships
In May, 2013, Alberto was selected to represent Australia at the 9th INAS World Athletics Championships, taking place in Prague in early June. This would be Alberto first exposure to international competition. Alberto competed in the 400m, 200m, 4x100m and 4X400m and was the youngest member of the Australian Team.
Alberto’s first event for the INAS World Athletics Championships was the 400m Alberto easily made it through to the final, winning his heat convincingly, turning off with a 100m to go. On paper Alberto’s PB placed him as the 4th fastest going into this competition.
In the final that took place on the next day, Alberto Campbell ran a personal best time of 49.73 seconds to win Bronze. It was the first medal for Australia at the Championships. At the start of the day Campbell declared he was going to run a PB, when told if he ran a PB he could win a medal Campbell was shocked, his focus had been getting to the final and then doing his best, he hadn’t contemplated winning a medal.
As it happened he ran the perfect race, Head Coach Anula Costa talked to Campbell about running strong through the last 50m when others are struggling, with 50m to go Campbell was in 5th position, as instructed he ran strong, held his form and produced both a personal best by over a second and a Bronze medal.
Alberto was the youngest sprinter in the final by over 2 years and with 7 out of the 8 finalists all ran PB’s it was an extremely hard fought final.
It was a medal the whole team and supporters shared, with no other Australian athletes competing on that day, everyone was there in support of Alberto, including a number of coaches from other countries who had heard about this Australian Usain Bolt.
Throughout the 2013 season Alberto’s coach Annette Rice has being saying to him that his standard of training shows he is ready to run a sub-50 and Alberto made this prediction come true on the world stage. In an interview after the race he thanked his coach for all the hard work she had put in with him and the belief that she had that he could run under 50. He said “Before the race I remembered my coaches words “Alberto you can run faster, it will hurt but you are fit and strong, it won’t kill you”. It did hurt, but she was right I just had to push through it” Alberto’s result in this race is a testament to her commitment to her athletes and expertise as an athletics coach of the highest level.
On the next day of competition Alberto just missed out on making it to the 200m final. Finishing 3rd in his heat, he missed out by 0.03 of a second as a ‘next fastest qualifier’.
In the 4x100m Alberto ran the 4th leg of the 4x100m and the Australians came 5th.
On the final day of competition the scene was set for a great 4x400m. The team of Matthew Pascoe (QLD), Paul Gilbert (WA), Terry Price (VIC) and Alberto Campbell (QLD) did an outstanding job winning Bronze with a new Australian record time (T20). There was much chaos in the 2nd and 3rd changeovers, yet the Australian boys held tough and battled through. At the end of the race 4 teams were disqualified including Australia, however after an hour and 40mins of protests and appeals to the Referee, Australia and Venezuela were re-instated, Venezuela Gold, Poland Silver and Australia Bronze. The time for the team was 3:32.81. Alberto ran the 4th leg with a split of 49.50.
2015 IPC Athletics World Championships - Doha
“It is not always the result on the track that makes you a true champion, but how you react off the track when faced with overwhelming disappointment,” said Paul Staines, father of Campbell who competed in the International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in Doha, capital of Qatar.
Campbell, who came second in his 400m heat to win a place in the final, was advised to pull out of the race after the team doctor feared the chest infection Campbell had been fighting, and the asthma-like symptoms he was suffering after his heat, could permanently damage his heart and lungs and land him in hospital if he ran.
“While I was devastated, I know it was the right thing to do and I will live to race another day,” said Campbell. “I know now that I can run with the world’s best and if I keep working hard, I’ll get my medal there. I qualified for a world championship final, and that is something I will be proud of for the rest of my life. And I continue to live by my motto, ‘Whether I win or lose, I give God the glory’.
Based on times and past performances, Campbell would have finished third and won a bronze medal. “Alberto has faced many adversities in his life and overcome all of them,” said his father. “He is seeing this latest one as just another one to run through. He is determined now, more than ever to work hard to achieve great things.”
2017 11th INAS World Athletics Championships – Bangkok
In April, Campbell was selected to represent Australia at the 11th INAS World Athletics Championships, taking place in Bangkok in May. This would be Campbell 3rd World Championships. Campbell competed in the 400m, 200m, 800m, 4x100m and 4X400m and was also selected as the Australian Team Captain for one of the largest Australian teams to every compete outside Australia.
Campbell ’s first event for the INAS World Athletics Championships was the 400m Campbell easily made it through to the final, placing second in his heat, turning off with a 100m to go.
In the final, that took place on the next day, Campbell ran a season’s best time of 49.95 seconds to win Bronze. Campbell ’s world ranking was 5th going into the final and his bronze medal result saw him jumping 2 spots in the IPC World Rankings to 3rd in the world. Campbell was coming 5th with 100m to go and powered home to get the bronze. When asked what he was thinking coming down the straight and being in 5th he said “I knew I could get a medal, I just needed to stay relaxed, even though every part of me was crying out in pain”
When informed of her athlete’s success and sub 50 time, Campbell ’s coach Annette Rice, who was back in Australia, commented “wow! that is a fantastic result. He can do it when he needs to”.
Campbell finished 3rd in his 200m heat and for the first time in his career progress through to a 200m World Championship final. Campbell placed 5th in the 200m with a courageous run on a very wet track.
Campbell ’s other results for the world Championships included
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800m – 4th heat (did not progress to final)
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4x400m – 4th (Australian record)
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4x100m – 5th
A highlight of the 2017 World Championships for Campbell was being named Team Captain for Australia and having the privilege of carrying the Australian flag and leading the team in the opening ceremony. Campbell took his role seriously and would meet briefly with every athlete on the team each morning to have a private word with them. Going through their plan for the day and giving them a personal word of encouragement. Athletes commented that “his door was always open” and he was always ready and willing to advise and giving a helping hand.
In the run-up to the 2019 INAS Global Games, Campbell participated in weekly races during the athletics club season in Brisbane, followed by the State Championships in February and the Australian National Championships in March where he successfully defended his T20 400m Australian Champion title for the 7thtime.
Alberto was proud to be one of Brisbane’s Next Gen Athlete scholarship holders. The support from Brisbane City Council, Lifestream and Sport Inclusion Australia continues to be very beneficial in supporting and finically helping Alberto reach his goals.
He was excited about welcoming competitors from all over the world to Brisbane next year stating: “I’m looking forward to showing off Brisbane to the visiting athletes. The biggest place that people go to when they come here is the South Bank, which is like a man-made beach in the heart of Brisbane. So, they should definitely visit that. They can also go to Mount Coot-tha for the lookout and of course, the Gold Coast.”
The Global Games are the world’s biggest high performance sports event for athletes with intellectual impairments. The 2019 edition feature d12 sports and around 1,000 athletes.
(Excerpts referred to Gaurav Mokhasi | For INAS from https://inas.org/alberto-Campbell-global-games-hometown-hero)
2019 INAS Global Games
Campbell represented Australia for the 7th time at the 2019 INAS Global Games hosted in his home city of Brisbane. The privilege of running for his country on his home track in his home city is a once in a lifetime opportunity and Campbell continued his hard work, training 6 days a week. He was selected on the Australian team for the 400m, 800m and 4x400m
Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games
In 2019, after the Global Games, Alberto began training under his new coach Wayne Leaver with the goal of competing at the Paralympics in Tokyo. In the lead up to the Tokyo Paralympics Alberto competed and the 2021 Australian National Championships (April). Bertie (as he is called by everyone in Athletics) won both the 200m and 400m making him the Australian Champion in these events in his Paralympic Classification (T20). In the 400m, which is a Paralympic event, Bertie ran under the qualifying time for the Tokyo Paralympics (this was the 6th time Bertie has done this this season) further cementing his bid to represent Jamaica at the Paralympics. Both his 200m and 400m times broke the Jamaican T20 national records (which he had set earlier in the year). Bertie was permitted to run in the Jamaican Uniform, making him the first T20 athlete ever to do so at a National championship (1st in the world, including Jamaica).
In June 2021 Alberto’s “change of athlete allegiance” to Jamaica was officially approved by the International Paralympic Committee (this change of allegiance was fully supported by Athletics Australia who were invaluable in the help and support they gave Alberto for this to come about). This was followed by the Jamaican Paralympic Association making Alberto’s selection to represent Jamaica in the 400m at the Tokyo Paralympics official. Alberto will become the first ever Jamaican T20 (Paralympic Classification – Intellectual Disability) to represent Jamaica at a Paralympic Games – in any sport. The president for the Jamaican Paralympic Association, concluded his letter to Alberto informing him of his official change of Allegiance with the words “I look forward to Alberto representing Jamaica with distinction.”
Alberto flew out to Tokyo on the 21 August where he competed in 400m T20 event.
Alberto finished 13th at the Tokyo Paralympics and while it wasn’t necessarily the result he was looking for a sports journalist wrote this about Bertie’s race the next day “His dream of getting to his first Paralympics now opens the door for tens of thousands of Jamaicans who may also have an intellectual impairment, to seek a meaningful life through sport. Although Alberto is not in the men’s 400m Finals, his Paralympic Games is cause for celebration, in that he has made history and has greatly impacted the future for his country of birth. That’s what will be remembered.”
Bertie improved his world ranking from 22nd to 13th. He was the first ever athlete with an intellectual disability to represent Jamaica in any sport. Jamaica is now making moves to join Virtus – the International Organisation of Sport for people with an intellectual disability.
Oceania-Asia Games 2022
Alberto won a gold and silver medal at the Virtus Oceania Asia Games held in 2022 (being allowed to compete as an Australian as it was not an IPC event) - Gold in the men’s 4 x 400 and silver in the mixed 4x 100 (2 men and 2 women – this is the first time the mixed relay has been part of an International Paralympic Committee sanctioned competition). Alberto also came 7th in the individual 400m final.
He was also named as the Athlete’s Ambassador for these Games and had the honour of leading all the athletes attending in the Athletes’ Oath at the Opening Ceremony.
At 29 Alberto was the oldest athlete on the Australian athletics team. It was Alberto’s last ever international completion ending a long and successful career in the green and gold. His Australian representative career spanned 9 years with him winning 1 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze international championship medals over this time.
Retirement form International Competition
While he has run qualifying times for the 2023 Virtus Global Games (World Championships) in the 100m, 200m and 400m events in the 2022/23 season, he has chose to hang up his spikes to focus on the next chapter of his life at the end of the season.
Although the Athletics Community were sad to see Alberto retire from international competition, they celebrated his impressive accomplishments as an athlete and his dedication to upholding Paralympic values. By fulfilling his lifelong dream of running at the Paralympics, he hopes to have opened the door for Jamaicans with intellectual impairments to pursue a meaningful life through sport. Alberto’s attendance at the Paralympics was indeed a highlight of his career, in that he made history as the first ever athlete with an Intellectual Impairment to represent Jamaica.
Campbell’s coaches, Annette Rice (coach 2009-2019) and more recently Wayne Leaver (coach 2019-present), have been wonderful coaches for Campbell. Campbell’s Physiotherapist Lynn Hough has complemented this team effort with her regular therapies and willingness to further her knowledge on the latest best practice. They seem to intrinsically know the right words to say to Campbell to bring out his best. They have always searched for new training strategies and techniques to help Campbell improve. But most importantly they treat him as a person, not someone ‘different’ because he has a disability. To them, Campbell is an athlete first and foremost, his disability doesn’t change anything but just means they expertly modify the delivery of his program to suit the disability.
Campbell has a large extended family who diligently support his efforts, particularly his grandparents who often come and watch him compete. Many people have said to his parents how wonderful it is that they ‘saved Alberto’. They don’t see it this way. Campbell has taught them so much; he has brought so much joy into so many people’s lives. Campbell has ‘saved’ them; he has enriched so many people’s lives beyond measure.
Sports Inclusion Australia and Virtus (formally INAS) have been there from the very beginning of Campbell competing as an athlete with a disability. They have come alongside him, providing him with support and skills training that have enabled him to not only flourish on the track but also in life. Through the opportunities Sports Inclusion Australia and Virtus have given Campbell he has made connections and lifelong friends throughout Australia and the World. The support given by Sports Inclusion Australia and Virtus to Campbell has enabled him to succeed on the international athletics stage whilst fostering an independence in him that has enabled him to succeed off the track in his life. Campbell has said one of the reasons he can now live independently is in part to the support Sports Inclusion Australia and Virtus have given him over many years.
Lots of Supporters
Throughout all of Campbell ’s hardships and successes he has experienced the support of family and friends. None of Campbell’s success would have been possible without the love and support of lots of people.
The QE2 Track Club have supported Campbell ’s running for many years and were the biggest financial contributor for his trip to the INAS World Championships.
Campbell works as a Primary Teacher’s Assistant at Citipointe Christian College. The staff and students of the school have been very supportive of Campbell, with children in the school sending messages and writing stories about him and staff contributing financially. The school have been generous in granting Campbell leave to compete when he needs it. He often volunteers outside his work hours to assist with the running of sporting events.
Campbell often refers to his training squad as his “training family”, they are always there with words of encouragement and practical advice. One member of the squad said to Campbell before he left for World Champs “We all believe in you, now all you have to do is remember to believe in yourself”.
Now that his international running career is over, Alberto is focusing more on helping the future generation ofsprinters. He runs a running squad for 6-9 years old where he imparts his love for his sport within fun and enjoyable training sessions. Alberto sees himself as a mentor for up-and-coming T20 sprinters, spending time with them, offering support, advice and guidance.
His encourages them that, like him, if they work hard, they too can better themselves and impact their world for the better through sport.
His parents said “it overwhelms us to think that he began his life in an orphanage and now he is a dual international representative, having competed for Australia 7 times and for Jamaica at the Tokyo Paralympics”. Campbell has come a long way from that orphanage in Kingston, Jamaica and he has his sights aimed on going even further. And he has smiled the whole way!
