Angela Ballard (born 6 June 1982) is an Australian Paralympic athlete who competes in T53 wheelchair sprint events.

[4][13] Her rehabilitation was then moved to the Royal North Shore Hospital, where she met Christie Dawes (née Skelton), who she would later race with in the Australian 4x100 m relay team at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.

[14] Her first experiences of racing at the age of 12 resulted in blisters and a sore neck,[18] but wheelchair athletics soon became her passion.

[9] In 2002, she moved to Sydney to attend university on a sports scholarship,[20] initially studying commerce.

[10] As of 2011[update], she was living in Liberty Grove, New South Wales and attending the University of Sydney studying for a Bachelor of Psychology,[5] with the intention of practising as a psychologist.

[5] Compared to T54 athletes, she has less use of her abdominal muscles, which means she cannot raise herself as much in her wheelchair to get the best angle to propel herself forward.

[9] From 2002 she held a sports scholarship at the University of Sydney, where she was coached by Andrew Dawes (Christie's husband).

Ballard competed in Sydney in the 2000 Summer Paralympics but did not win any medals,[6] placing fourth in both the 100 m and 200 m events;[24][25] she was also a torch bearer,[26] and featured in the entertainment section of the opening ceremony, where she circled the track 12.3 metres (40 ft) in the air, suspended by a blimp and giant inflated angels.

[29] At the 2008 games, along with her teammates Christie Dawes, Madison de Rozario, and Jemima Moore, she achieved her best Paralympic result, winning a silver medal behind China's world record in the T53/54 4x100 m relay.

[36][37] After a couple of sub-par competition results in 2011, Ballard made big changes to her diet, gloves, technique, chair position, and training regime.

[42] In August 1998, Ballard competed at the International Paralympic Committee World Championships in Birmingham, England, where she was part of the gold medal-winning Australian women's 4 x100 m and 4x400 m relay teams.

I was so nervous coming in, you try and tell yourself that the worst thing that can happen is a loss and starting again tomorrow, but the reality is that this matters so much.

"[47] She also won a bronze medal in the Women's 800 mm T54 behind gold medallist Madison de Rozario.

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast, Queensland, she won the silver medal in the Women's 1500m T54 finishing behind Madison de Rozario.

[62] In 1998, together with Louise Sauvage, Christie Skelton, and Holly Ladmore, she completed an 845-kilometre (525 mi) relay from Byron Bay to Bondi Beach, which raised $200,000 for disabled athletes.

[63] Ballard has been appointed as an ambassador or advocate by a number of organisations with an interest in people with disabilities, sport, health, or exercise.

In 2000, she was selected for Team MAA (Motor Accidents Authority), to discuss road trauma with other young people.

[11][73] Alongside a number of other university-affiliated athletes, Ballard attended a press conference to oppose the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism.