Indiana Cooper (athletics) is already making her mark on the para-athletics world at just 15-years-old. After watching Gold Coast 2018 gold medallist Isis Holt win three medals at Rio 2016 Paralympics, “Indi” Cooper told herself, “That’s what I want to do.” An indigenous woman (Wiradjuri) and 2021/22 Kurt Fearnley Scholarship recipient, Indi rose to prominence at the NSW All-Schools Carnival in December 2020 where she beat the T38 800m age record by over three seconds. Committing to six running sessions and five gym sessions per week – including two sessions in Canberra at the AIS – the Tumut High School student won four gold medals and broke two national records at the Australian Athletics Championships in April 2021, before claiming another two gold medals at the 2022 championships. Indi travels to her debut Commonwealth Games in Birmingham via the Road to Gundagai, her home 390km south-west of Sydney where she hopes to break the 14.38 sec Commonwealth record established by Australian five-time Paralympic gold medallist Lisa McIntosh at Melbourne 2006. Outside of athletics, Cooper enjoys playing soccer and league tag. She has a six-month-old dachshund named Nala.