ORIELLE MICHAELIS-THORPE ABORIGINAL ATHLETE FROM QUEENSLAND NEEDS SPONSORS TO COMPETE IN YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Orielle Michalis-Thorpe at K2 BASE CAMP (Supplied)

BY ASAD KHAN AND MARION CHEEDY

Orielle Michaelis-Thorpe is a proud Bidjara and Dhunghutti woman athlete from Queensland, who is training in the competitive  Boulder climbing sport.

Ms Thorpe said she started for fun with her brother but turned out to be good at it and started liking the sport.

“My brother did it like not professionally just like for fun like ages ago and I just like joined him a couple of times. I thought I actually really like this and then I went to like this holiday thing and I just tried it out and they're like, oh you actually pretty good doing the like come to our Squad and so I just started like training there extreme for a bit and then I got more into it,”

“I came second at National this year, which was really surprising for me because I didn't do very well last year, but I did try a lot of this year,” she said.

She said her dream is to compete for Australia in the 2032 Olympics and she is currently in training for Youth World Championships in China this August.

Ms Thorpe said she looks forward to Aboriginal representation in the Olympics and is looking for sponsorship to support her participation in the Youth World Championship in China.

There is also a dedicated fundraiser for her to make her athletic dream come true on the Australian Sports Foundation website under her name.

Listen to Ngaarda Media’s Senior Broadcaster Marion Cheedy speak with Orielle Michaelis- Thorpe: