Julie Charlton (athletics) will make her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham where shot put for athletes with a disability appears on the program for the first time since Delhi 2010. Julie took up para-athletics when she was 10, trying a variety of disciplines in the sport. At one point she was approached by Birmingham teammate Rosemary Little, who remarked after watching her compete: “If you can do that in your day chair, I’d like to see how fast you can go in a track chair”. After winning events at the 2016 International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports World Junior Athletics Championships and the 2019 Oceania Championships, she claimed NSW state titles in both 2020 and 2021 across track events, as well as shot put and discus. She also combines competing with coaching and was named the 2019 Sport NSW Young Coach of the Year. Julie competes for Cherrybrook Athletics Club in northwest Sydney and says her parents and coaches Matt Rawling and Matt Fowler have been the most influential people in her career.