Sam Carter (athletics) received an early birthday present on the eve of his 31st birthday in 2022 – a Commonwealth Games bronze in the men’s 1500m T54. It was his first international middle-distance race and his first major championships medal. The Canberra-based wheelchair racer turned his attention to the metric mile only after the Tokyo Paralympics a year earlier when he realised the Commonwealth Games would be his only opportunity to compete internationally that year.

Born with spina bifida, Sam dabbled in wheelchair basketball and Para-swimming but took up wheelchair racing in high school when he was spotted by Sydney 2000 Paralympic gold medallist Geoff Trappett at a come-and-try day in his hometown of Toowoomba. He broke national age records in the 100m, 200m and 400m in 2008 before going on to claim the junior world title in the 100m in 2009. Two years later he made his senior international debut at the World Para Athletics Championship in Christchurch and has gone on to compete at another four world championships (2013, 2015, 2019, 2023) and two Paralympic Games (2016, 2020) since then.

Sam has a law degree from the University of Southern Queensland. He has lived in Canberra since 2017 and stood as a Greens candidate at the 2024 ACT and the 2025 federal elections.