12th September 2014

NEW ZEALAND'S ATHLETICS AND WHEELCHAIR RUGBY ATHLETE DAVID SHERRIFF TELLS US ALL ABOUT HIS INVICTUS EXPERIENCE

12 September 2014

After finishing in fifth place in the wheelchair rugby during day two of the Invictus Games, presented by Jaguar Land Rover, we caught up with New Zealand's David Sherriff to hear all about his experiences in the Copper Box.

Sherriff is 45-years-old and won bronze in the IF4 discus and shot put during athletics competition on Thursday.

A former member of the New Zealand Air Force he had a motorcycle accident in 1993 which left him with a severe spinal cord injury.

He currently lives in Auckland and is a civilian worker at the Air Force Base there.

What has you experience of the Invictus Games been like so far?

The Invictus Games is nothing like I've ever experienced before - it has been brilliant.

I wasn't expecting to win any medals at the athletics - when I came here I didn't know what the other competitors would be like, so I'm delighted.

Have you a chance to mix with athletes from other teams?

All the teams get on well and we're interested in each other. We get out there, push hard and hit each other hard on the court but after it we get together and make new mates.

We're all learning from each others' experiences and we can compare stories, compare wheelchairs and learn so much about how everyone else does things.

The camaraderie hasn’t surprised me but it has been greater than I expected.

What's it been like to represent your country at such a prestigious event?

It's brilliant to represent New Zealand in a sporting capacity - after I had my accident I lost the ability to compete at Services level and I really missed that.

But competing in this sort of atmosphere is brilliant - we've got a wide range of ages in the team, men and women with different backgrounds but we've got a common goal.

How did sport help your recovery?

It played a major part in my rehabilitation – before the accident I was a water polo player and I played rugby union as well.

Water polo was my passion and all of a sudden when I became a paraplegic I couldn’t play it any more.

I needed something to replace it and wheelchair rugby was the one that took my fancy – so I put all my concentration into that.

What do you think is the future of the Invictus Games?

I'd love New Zealand to host a future Invictus Games - I don’t know if we have the capacity to but we definitely need to keep this event going whatever the format.

Whether we go to different nations like the Olympics or do it on a two or four year cycle we definitely need to keep it going.