| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Events | 200m, 400m T38 |
| DOB | 23/11/2007 |
| Coach | Rob Marks |
| Club | Sutherland Districts Athletics |
| Teams | 2025 World Para Athletics Championship |
A versatile athlete making her mark on the world stage, Layla Sharp has emerged as a name to watch on the Para-athletics scene.
At just 17, the proud Biripi and Darug woman is one of five Indigenous teenagers representing Australia at the World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi, where she will contest the 200m and 400m T38 events.
Sharp already knows the kind of legacy she hopes to leave as well as the person she wants to be, inspired by Olympic 400m champion and Australian icon Catherine Freeman.
“Cathy has been my idol for ages. I’ve watched her 2000 race so many times and it’s so inspiring. The way that she built up to where she became and all of that, and how she uses her voice for younger Indigenous generations is so important,” Sharp said.
“Her Sydney 400m was and is phenomenal to have done it in her own country, it was a turning point for athletics as a sport and definitely has shaped it into what it is today.”
Competing with cerebral palsy, Sharp has competed over a range of distances but has narrowed her focus to the Paralympic pathway in a bid to fulfil her dream of making to the biggest stage, fuelled by bettering herself every day.
“I always want to be bettering myself as a person and as an athlete. Athletics is a sport that at times can be demanding physically but you also have the rewards of having good fitness and good health whilst competing in a sport you love,” Sharp said.
“That’s one of the biggest parts of it for me and as well as dropping my times whether it’s in training reps or on the track on race day inspires me to keep pushing in training when it gets hard.”
Currently studying in Year 12 while juggling her maiden World Para Athletics Championships campaign, Sharp has already completed her English studies through an accelerated HSC program, noting that people often underestimate her academic and sporting ability.
The dream of a home 2032 Paralympic Games is well and truly alive for Sharp who would be just 25-years-old, hoping to replicate the heroes of her childhood in Brisbane:
“It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that hardly anyone gets to experience, especially on home soil.”
