TAPPER Melissa

Date of Birth: 1 Mar 1990

Age: 31

Gender: Female

Sport Class: 10

Place of birth: HAMILTON, VIC

Birth Country:

Australia

Place of residence : MELBOURNE, VIC

Residence Country:

Australia

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Table Tennis	Women's Team - Classes 9-10 AUS Australia	2
	Women's Singles - Class 10	5

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Table 2	Women's Singles - Class 10 Group B #1 TPE LIN TYLIN Tzu Yu Sport Class: 10 1 AUS TAPPER MTAPPER Melissa Sport Class: 10 3	Finished
	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Table 4	Women's Singles - Class 10 Group B #7 BRA COSTA ALEXANDRE BCOSTA ALEXANDRE Bruna Sport Class: 10 3 AUS TAPPER MTAPPER Melissa Sport Class: 10 0	Finished
	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Table 3	Women's Singles - Class 10 Quarterfinal 2 #16 AUS TAPPER MTAPPER Melissa Sport Class: 10 0 AUS YANG QYANG Qian Sport Class: 10 3	Finished
	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Table 4	Women's Team - Classes 9-10 Quarterfinal 4 #4 HUN Hungary 0 AUS Australia 2	Finished
	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Table 1	Women's Team - Classes 9-10 Semifinal 2 #6 CHN China 0 AUS Australia 2	Finished
	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Table 2	Women's Team - Classes 9-10 Gold Medal Match #7 POL Poland 2 AUS Australia 0	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Rank	Event	Year	Location
Paralympic Games
4	Team - Classes 6-10	2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA
4	Singles - Class 10	2012	London, GBR
5	Singles - Class 10	2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA
5	Team - Classes 6-10	2012	London, GBR
World Championships
3	Singles - Class 10	2018	Lasko, SLO
3	Singles - Class 10	2014	Beijing, CHN
Commonwealth Games
1	Women's Singles Class 6-10	2018	Gold Coast, QLD, AUS

Milly (Athlete, 28 Apr 2015)

Occupation:

Athlete, Coach, Motivational Speaker, Office Worker

Education, Exercise and Health Science - Australian Catholic University, Australia

Husband Simon Gerada

Languages spoken:

John Murphy [national - able-bodied], IRL; Simon Gerada [husband], from 2010

Left (ITTF, 02 Aug 2016)

Sporting relatives:

Her husband Simon Gerada competed in table tennis for Australia at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. He also represented Malta in the sport at the 2011 and 2013 Games of the Small States of Europe, and has worked as Table Tennis Australia's national performance coach. (smh.com.au, 31 Jul 2021, 29 Mar 2016; clubhub.net.au, 07 Oct 2014)

Other sports:

She has competed in both able-bodied and Para table tennis for Australia. (melissatapper.com, 06 Apr 2016)

She first tried table tennis at age eight. She began playing for her state team at age 12, and took up Para table tennis at age 19. (australiansportsnutrition.com.au, 06 Mar 2014; melissatapper.com, 06 Apr 2016; athletesvoice.com.au, 29 Apr 2019)

She tried table tennis as a recreational activity in primary school and was encouraged to continue playing by her gym teacher. "It was lunchtime sport on a Friday and I was terrible at it, I mean I couldn't even hit the ball. That enjoyment and love for it is what kept me coming back and eventually, I guess, I got alright at it." She later made the move into Para table tennis after she was approached by Tim Matthews of Paralympics Australia and looked to represent Australia at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. (melissatapper.com, 06 Apr 2016; athletesvoice.com.au, 29 Apr 2019; abc.net.au, 20 Jul 2021)

To win a gold medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (tokyo2020.org, 05 Nov 2020)

Winning a Para table tennis gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia, and competing in both the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. (olympics.com, 11 Jun 2021; SportsDeskOnline, 09 Nov 2020; insidethegames.biz, 07 Nov 2020)

Swiss tennis player Roger Federer. (Athlete, 27 Jun 2016)

Philosophy:

"As I've grown up, I've just understood that if I wanted to do something I had to go away and try a little bit harder or find, maybe, a solution to something. I never had anyone that spoon-fed me. I was never treated any differently." (abc.net.au, 20 Jul 2021; olympics.com, 11 Jun 2021)

In 2019 she was named the Victorian Female Athlete of the Year in Australia. (tokyo2020.org, 05 Nov 2020)

General Interest

Classification
TT10 (ITTC, 17 Aug 2021)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (insidethegames.biz, 07 Nov 2020)

Impairment Details
Her impairment is the result of Erb's palsy due to the nerves between her shoulder and neck being torn during childbirth. (insidethegames.biz, 07 Nov 2020)

Grip
Shakehand (ITTF, 02 Aug 2016)

Style of play
Attack (ITTF, 02 Aug 2016)

General
TOKYO EXPERIENCE
She competed in the mixed doubles and women's team event at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (olympics.com, 08 Aug 2021)

OCCUPATION
She works as a receptionist for the Victorian Institute of Sport [VIS] in Melbourne, VIC, Australia. She also provides motivational talks, table tennis lessons and mini tournaments in schools and businesses across the state of Victoria in Australia. Since November 2014 she has worked as an ambassador for a school engagement programme called Standing Tall, which is based in Hamilton, VIC, Australia. (signalhire.com, 29 Apr 2021; LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2020)

CLUB
She runs a table tennis club called 'Loops', with her husband Simon Gerada in Sunshine West, VIC, Australia. (Official ITTF Channel YouTube channel, 28 Aug 2019)

Milestones

She became the first Australian athlete to compete at both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games when she competed in both competitions in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. (smh.com.au, 02 Sep 2016; SportsDeskOnline, 04 Mar 2020)

Social Media

Legend

:: Silver Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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