Luke Cain

Cain was born on 3 February 1980 in Rosebud, Victoria.^[2][3][4] He started playing Australian rules football when he was seven years old for the Rye Football Club. He played senior football for Rosebud Football Club as a full-forward.^[5] In August 1999, at the age of nineteen, he was playing for Rosebud in a game against Hastings Football Club when he broke his neck after being sandwiched between a teammate and an opposing player.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} He is a paraplegic,^[5] and requires use of a wheelchair because of paralysis that affects him from the chest down. He has limited use of his fingers and no use of his hands.^[7][8] Before his accident, he participated in a range of sports, including basketball, athletics, waterskiing, kneeboarding and wakeboarding.^[5][9] After his accident, he continued in some sports, including angling.^[3] As of 2012^[update], he resides in Boneo, Victoria.^[3][4]

His cousin is Travis Cloke, an AFL All-Australian full-forward.^[6] Cain has been an inspiration to his cousin on the football field.^[6] At the same time, Cloke has supported Cain.^[7] Other cousins include AFL players Jason Cloke and Cameron Cloke.^[3]

Cain is an SH2-classified shooter competing in 10m air rifle prone and 10m air rifle standing events.^[2] He has been a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder since 2008,^[6] and is a member of the Springvale Range Club.^[2] He is coached by Miro Sipek as an individual and when on the national team.^[3]

As a youngster, Cain hunted with his father and cousin.^[5] He took up the sport of shooting because it was one of the few available to people with his physical limitations.^[8] As of 2012^[update], he was sponsored by Miall's Gun Shop of Frankston, Victoria, who provided him with competition gear including cleaning supplies, a rifle case and a rifle. He holds two world records, one in the individual 600–600 R4 prone event, and another in the R4 10-metre standing event.^[8][10]

Cain started competing in 2007, and made the Australian national team the same year.^[2][11] During Australia's 2009 domestic series, the Australia Cup, an invitation-only series for the top shooters in the country,^[12] he earned a bronze, silver and gold medal.^[2] That year, he made his national team debut at an international event when he represented Australia at the 2009 ISSF World Cup in South Korea.^[9] By early 2010, he was looking for a sponsor to assist with costs for his international competitions.^[11] He set a personal best of 598 out of 600 in the SH-2 prone air event at the 2010 World Cup in Germany, and not long after, set a new personal best when he shot 599 at the same event at the 2010 World Cup in France.^[9][13] He came in first at the 2010 Oceania Shooting Federation Continental Championship.^[8][11] At the 2010 IPC Shooting World Championships in Zagreb,^[14] he came in first in the SH-2 prone air event by setting a world record of 600 points, a perfect score.^[8][13] At the 2011 Great Britain International, he finished second in the 10m air rifle prone event.^[2][15] He competed in the United States-hosted International Paralympic Committee World Cup in 2011,^[6] finishing fourth in the R5 Air Rifle Prone event with a score of 599. He earned a gold medal in the team event with teammates Jason Maroney and Bradley Mark.^[16] In 2012, he trained up to six days a week.^[8] At the Australian nationals, he finished second in the prone event behind New Zealander Michael Johnson, and third in the standing event behind fellow Australian Bradley Marks and Johnson.^[17]

Cain was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in Mixed R5-10m Air Rifle Prone-SH2 and Mixed R4-10m Air Rifle Standing-SH2 shooting events.^{[2][3][8][18][19]} Competing on 3 September,^[20] he did not medal, finishing 27th in the standing event and 28th in the prone event.^[3][21]

Most recently Cain had represented Australia in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He competed in the Mixed 10 m air rifle standing SH2 and the Mixed 10 m air rifle prone SH2.^[22][23] Cain did not medal, placing 26th in the standing event and 33rd in the prone event.