Sebastian Mawson – Paralympic climber with Paralympic gold ambitions

Mawson knows what it means to be inspired.

He was just four years old in 2012 when he watched the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London and made what turned out to be the defining statement of his life.

“I told my father, ‘This is what I want to do, I want to go to the Paralympics and I want to win the gold medal,'” he said.

Mawson smiles when he talks about it, because he admits for more than a decade that he “didn’t have a sport” to focus on despite his great ambition.

But in para-climbing, he found a way to try and ascend to Paralympic glory.

“I’m going to come all this way and go make this dream come true,” he said.

“I’m thinking a lot about Los Angeles and aiming for the gold medal.”

In 2024, Mawson collected his first international medal when he won silver in the AU2 category – for athletes with moderate upper limb disabilities – at the European Championships in Villars, Switzerland.

He has since won bronze medals in World Cup events in Italy and the United States.

All the success so far can be traced back to a rainy day in 2018 when Mawson was forced to stay indoors instead of attending his usual rugby union training session.

Soon after, Aggarwal discovered the apprentice and asked to train him.

“Instead of just sitting at home, my dad suggested we go climbing, so we did. After the first session, I was completely hooked,” Mawson said.

“This was the second time we went and I met Anita. I don’t think I can understand the impact of meeting her at that time. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would be climbing now, especially in the situation I’m in now.”