Sharon Jarvis

Sharon Jarvis got a taste of international competition in 2007 when she represented Australia at the sixth FEI World Para Dressage Championships in England and she is looking forward to more as the Beijing Paralympic Games approach.

Nominating her entry into the opening ceremony in Britain as her proudest moment, Sharon is intensely proud to be a representative of her country. Her equestrian career began in 2006, and it wasn’t long before she was representing her home state of Western Australia at the 2006 National Show Horse Championships.

Sharon has limited strength and movement on her left side from the waist down, as a result of having bone cancer when she was a child. She laughs today when she recalls getting used to wearing a wig while undergoing treatment, and having it fall off while climbing a tree – only to be put back on backwards. Since then, she has left the trees behind and tried her hand at parachuting, which ranks as her scariest experience alongside crossing the Nullarbor for the first time with her horses.

Described as a dreamer by those who know her, Sharon’s passion and determination might see her dream of success at the Beijing Paralympics come true.