11 September 2023
For Ainsley Hooker, all that glitters really is gold – gold sparkles, that is.
And the gold sparkles in question, paired with a fetching green shade, were debuted on the evening of September 9 during the opening ceremony of Invictus Games Düsseldorf 2023, when Ainsley took to the arena with her new Australian and Invictus-themed prosthetic leg.
Thirty-six-year-old Ainsley – who became an under-knee amputee in 2020 – will compete in athletics, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby events at her inaugural Games.
And she could hardly contain her excitement at the thought of showing off her new “accessory”.
“Anyone who knows me knows I am very big on accessories,” Ainsley said.
“I’ve got the different hair bows happening; the different earrings for every day, and I decided that my prosthetic leg needed to match the uniform too.
“This is a new leg for use in athletics – shot put and discus – with the potential to be adapted for running. I trialled so many different legs, including running blades, and for a while I was trialling a new one every six weeks trying to find the one that best suited my needs.
“This new leg is amazing. It has a small blade and a heel so you can rest and stand still comfortably. It’s light, it bounces and it’s springy too, with a pivot in it that takes pressure off my knee so walking in it is just beautiful."
Credit for the green-and-gold paintwork on Ainsley’s prosthesis goes to her father-in-law, Dave Hooker, who turned his car restoration spray-painting skills into a captivating work of art that also glitters in the sun.
Ainsley used a company near her home town of Townsville, NQ Custom Signwriting, to further decorate the prosthetic limb with logos featuring the tri-nations, Southern Cross, a kangaroo, the Australian coat of arms and of course, the Invictus Games.
Due to the precision work required, the final design was only finished two days before Southern Cross flew out of Queensland to meet the rest of Team Australia in Sydney.
To say she is delighted at the end result is an understatement.
“I think it will become my every day leg," Ainsley said.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to go walking around wearing it every day, but it’s a reminder of how far I’ve come and what I’ve achieved. I’m very proud."
To this end, Ainsley acknowledges there is more to the Invictus Games experience than winning medals.
However, she does credit her husband, Jayson, for setting her up for success.
'This new leg is amazing. It has a small blade and a heel so you can rest and stand still comfortably. It’s light, it bounces and it’s springy too, with a pivot in it that takes pressure off my knee so walking in it is just beautiful.'
As Jayson tells it, Ainsley was faced with a 100km round trip every time she wanted to train on the only wheelchair-accessible track in Townsville.
The tyranny of distance, plus a lack of nearby training partners or coaches, made it hard for her to commit to regular training. So, as far as he was concerned, there was only one solution – he would build her a stationary trainer.
“I was so proud of her when she made the Australian Invictus Games team. It was so amazing; such a big achievement,” he said.
“But I saw she was starting to become anxious. She has a lot of appointments and she would need to fit training in between appointments and dropping off and picking up the kids. She was starting to worry about it.
“I got on the internet, saw how the trainers worked and thought I’d build one."
Jayson used two treadmills for parts, cut the frames down and joined them together with bolts. The trainer is basically a roller – or two separate short rollers – in a frame.
“We’ve got it set now so you just sit (the wheelchair) on it and strap the front wheel so it can’t move back and forth. The two back wheels sit on a big roller," he said.
“If she can get in and use it for 15 minutes in the morning, it’s helping her; it’s better than nothing.
“Really, like training for any sport, the easier you make it the more likely you are to do it. If it’s going to be a two-hour round trip to go out to the track, it’s too hard and you have to force yourself. This is much easier.”
Invictus Games Düsseldorf 2023 will run until September 16, jointly hosted by the German Federal Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and the City of Düsseldorf.
Australia’s combined team of 31 current and former-serving ADF members will compete in 10 individual and team sports including archery, athletics, indoor rowing, powerlifting, cycling, sitting volleyball, table tennis, swimming, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby.
