The Rock’s Aaron McCarthy is a few months away from completing his dream of participating in the Milan 2026 Paralympic Games. Photo: Instagram/aaronmccarthypara.
The Rock farmer Aaron McCarthy has his eyes set on one of the biggest sporting events in the world, the Winter Paralympic Games.
Following success in Europe earlier this year, that dream is becoming closer and closer to reality.
Aiming to earn a spot in the LL1 classification* for downhill snowboarding at the Milan 2026 Paralympic Games, Aaron will spend the next few months moving between his home at The Rock and Australia’s winter sports training facility in Jindabyne.
“I’m feeling pretty confident in earning a spot at the Paralympics,” Aaron said.
“We’ve got our domestic season starting here soon at Jindabyne. I’ll be working in the gym getting my body conditioning and strength up to where it needs to be. Then, come December, I’ll head overseas for a camp in Europe.
“At the moment, the top eight in the world have already prequalified for the Games. The rest of the positions come from qualifications early next year. We’ll be notified in February whether we have made it in or not, which is obviously pretty close to the event, but it’s all about earning points and getting that rank in the lead-up.”
Aaron first took up snowboarding as a form of rehab following an accident with farming equipment that resulted in him losing his left leg in 2021. After trying a number of wheelchair sports, Aaron eventually landed on snowbaording after visiting a mobility clinic in Thredbo.
During his weekend at Thredbo, Aaron and his support group joked about being able to snowboard down a blue run (an amateur trail). While some dismissed this as a joke from Aaron, he took it seriously and worked hard to give it a go in only his first weekend snowboarding without a leg.
Aaron recently won the European Cup for his division (LL1). Photo: Instagram/aaronmccarthypara.
Aaron eventually got in touch with an Australian para-development coordinator who placed him on the Emerging Talent Program (ETP) with Snow Australia and tasked him with trying to get more than 30 days and 50 days of snow across the 2023 and 2024 domestic seasons, which he succeeded in doing.
Following his success in 2024, Aaron recently took a trip to Europe to take part in the European Cup.
“While in Europe, I raced in Finland, Switzerland and Austria,” he said.
“I managed to get a race win in Austria and a few podiums, a podium in Finland, and another podium in Austria. So I came away with the overall winner for the European Cup for my classification.
“It’s pretty incredible that a farmer four hours away from the nearest snowfield is able to compete with the Europeans that live in it.
“There are plenty of guys over there that, you know, have a lot more snow, a lot more experience than what I do, that’s for sure.”
Over the next few months, Aaron will travel between Jindabyne and his home in the Riverina.
“I’ll be staying over there, going for a few weeks, come home for a week or two, and then head back over for a few weeks again.
“I’ll be working on snow training and some skills-based stuff ready for later this year.”
Aaron, his wife and family are looking for sponsors to support Aaron and his trip to Europe and hopefully the Paralympic Games next year. To follow Aaron and his journey racing across the world, be sure to follow his Instagram, aaronmccarthypara.
*LL1 is for snowboarders with moderately affected movement of the knees or legs, the absence of one leg above the knee or two legs below the knee.
