The team behind the athlete is what ultimately determines performance. If you have confidence that those guiding your journey are all aligned and on the same page as to where you are at and where you are going, you are far more likely to get there!
Emily Petricola is an international athlete, Paralympic champion and world record holder. She competes as an elite cyclist whilst living with multiple sclerosis. Describing MS as “an invisible disability” which affects every aspect of her life in unpredictable, unseen ways, Emily demonstrates that with sincerity and determination, living your dreams can be powerful and transformative no matter what the circumstances.
Emily graduated from Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak in 1998. She studied to become an English and Humanities teacher and spent more than 15 years working in senior management and teaching roles in both the UAE and Australia. She is a qualified rowing coach and mentor to young athletes in her work across Melbourne.
Emily was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2007. She was determined to continue to find ways to be physically active and competitive whilst also learning to manage the challenges of MS; this came in the form of cycling. Her dream of competing at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020 (held in 2021) was realised after many years of training and commitment and followed the success she found at representing Australia at several World Championships in the years prior. Since her cycling debut, Emily has won nine World Championship titles across both road and track disciplines and a further four silver and two bronze medals.
At her Tokyo Paralympic debut, Emily won gold in the women’s 3000m individual pursuit C4 with a world record time of 3:38.061 and followed this up with a silver medal in the women’s road time trial C4. The entire community of Loreto Toorak cheered her on in real time watching this amazing achievement from locked down Melbourne. In 2002 Emily was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to Sport.
Whilst continuing to learn, navigate and thrive with Multiple Sclerosis, Emily works as a highly respected rowing coach, whilst training for the 2024 Track World Championships and the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, where she will look to defend her title in the Individual Pursuit.
