MACQUEEN Nathan

Classification
Open (World Archery, 28 Mar 2021)

Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries (Athlete, 14 Jul 2016)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (dailyrecord.co.uk, 25 Apr 2014)

Impairment Details
He sustained a spinal cord injury in a motorbike crash in 2009. He broke 29 bones and punctured both lungs in the accident. "My accident was particularly brutal. I'm incredibly lucky to be alive if I'm honest. I broke my back in three places and snapped my spinal cord, but I'll take being in a wheelchair over not being here at all. It was so hard at the start trying to come to terms with things but sports really kept me sane. Sports played a massive part of my recovery." (Athlete, 14 Jul 2016; musclefood.com, 01 Aug 2016)

General
TOKYO AMBITION
He has said he wants to win a medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo in order to prove that he did not "fluke" his way into the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "To be in Tokyo, I think it would prove that me going to Rio wasn't a fluke. Rio was a bit surreal because I had only got on the squad in the year of Rio [2016] and it was a bit of an outside chance of me going, but I won the selection shoot and ending up going, and I had to pinch myself a lot. When you go into your first Games, it's a lot of excitement about being there, but you need to be a bit more level-headed going into it. Thinking about it as just another competition, even though it's the Paralympics. You're taking it as another competition so you're not getting these spikes of excitement which could affect you." (bridportnews.co.uk, 15 Oct 2019)

BIRTH OF SON
In 2019 he said the birth of his son Casey the previous year provided him with added determination to succeed at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "I think having Casey is partly why I've come good. He was born in January last year [2018] and he's given another outlet, another dimension. I'm an athlete and I go and put my athlete hat on, but then I come home and put my dad hat on, and he doesn't care where I am or what I've done, he just loves me. It's given me another aspect to my life, and I think that's why I've gotten better. It's unlocked another part of me." (bridportnews.co.uk, 15 Oct 2019)

FROM POWERLIFTING TO ARCHERY
He originally took up Para powerlifting with the aim of competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, but switched to Para archery after suffering a shoulder injury and failing to qualify for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. "I've had bigger hurdles in my life so I just reset my goals and moved on. I only took up archery after I had to give up powerlifting through injury. I had hoped to be part of the Commonwealth Games team, but it wasn't to be." (dailyrecord.co.uk, 23 Jun 2016, 25 Apr 2014)

ANCESTRY
He has a tattoo of the Clan MacQueen crest on his chest. The crest depicts an animal holding an arrow, and legend tells that a member of the clan hunted the last wolf in Scotland with a bow and arrow, after it had attacked a young girl from a nearby settlement. "I asked my wife Tara recently why she thought I was good at archery. I said, 'Do you think it's because my ancestors were good?' Since I found out this bit of history I've thought maybe it's meant to be. It's definitely given me a bit of a boost." (paralympics.org.uk, 22 Apr 2021)

FORMER OCCUPATION
He had to give up a career as a joiner after his motorbike accident in 2009. (westlothiancourier.co.uk, 01 Dec 2011)