Ben Tuimaseve: The Paralympian learning to own his disability through shot put

Five years ago, New Zealand Paralympian Ben Tuimaseve couldn't even show you how to hold a heavy-weighted shot correctly. 

Now, he's gearing up for the biggest event on the world stage, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

"Sport was something that was so foreign to me," he said. 

"I knew that if I was to do it, it would make me deal with all the challenges that I chose not to in the past, and yet here we are."

The 32-year-old has left hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that affects movement on the left side of his body.

"It's pretty gumby, it looks the part, but looks can be deceiving and that's very deceiving.

"I think it even affects my eye and my eyesight, but it varies for every single person, so I suppose that's the beauty of it." 

He said it was something he had struggled to accept his entire life.

"I grew up in an environment full of amazing people where a lot of males in the family were very physically able to do work and I just sort of felt a bit behind in that sense.

"It definitely took me way too long to accept it. It's probably just in the last five years I've made a conscious effort to try and do that because I felt like I was letting it get the best of me and so I had to do something about it."

And that's just what he did. 

A determined Tuimaseve visited Parafed Auckland, an organization which provides sporting and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities. 

He admitted it took some time to find his feet, but the sport has helped him to embrace his disability and to be proud of his achievements.

"The last few years starting shot put has made me feel like shit, I've got a lot of work to do, and yeah it's starting to come along to be like yo, this is who I am and I'm starting to own it slowly.

"For me, it's something that is not going to go away … there's so many people that I've seen while entering shot put that they just own their shit, their disability, and that's been pretty cool to see and I'm still taking that path," he said.

"I'm 32 years old and it took me way too long, but it's better late than never and I'm putting in effort more than ever, so I've got to be proud of that."

Tuimaseve made his international Para athletics debut in 2019 at the Oceania Athletics Championships in Australia. 

He went on to represent New Zealand later that year at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai where he finished 12th in the Men's Shot Put F37.

He said shot put is the "one piece of the puzzle" that fits. 

"I like to dance but I'm pretty unco [uncoordinated] in the gym trying to do certain things, like trying to work your brain and your body together to try and make it do one second of movement," he said.

"But Pacific Islanders, we're strong naturally, and [with shot put] being strength based, at least for me that was one piece of the puzzle that was sort of there.

"Now I'm the healthiest I've ever been, physically, and I'm trying to make the mental and physical sort of marry up so we can do some good things."

Two surgeries on his ankle meant Tuimaseve was unlikely to qualify for the 2020 Games, but after the Paralympics were postponed because of Covid-19, he decided to "give it a crack" instantly. 

"I wasn't prepared for anything except to work hard. I had my work cut out for me so to make it [in the team] yeah, I'm over the moon, just in the sense that I didn't give in because at times it was such a heady situation.

"I'm happy that I pushed through and achieved this checkpoint of the journey, which was to make the Paralympics, the pinnacle of the sport. That was the goal and it's nice to say that in my life I achieved a goal and the hard work has paid off."

Tuimaseve has some star-studded support in his corner, giving him an extra boost leading into the Paralympics. He's been training alongside fellow Paralympic shot-putter Lisa Adams, who is being coached by her older sister, five-time Olympic medallist Dame Valerie Adams. 

He said having an "island connection" to the sport has been a huge help.

"[Dame Valerie Adams] she trains hard and trains the house down but outside of that she's very kind and very supportive of people who are trying to better themselves in the sport," he said.

"Having that island connection, I think just the language makes sense, and I guess that was a big part of a lot of learning for me to going forward when I couldn't really understand certain things that were going on.

"I'm very lucky that she has given me advice and support along the way to help me because I suppose being an islander herself, I felt more relatable to her and it was nice to have her and even her sister to be like oh yo Poly gang, there's some of us in here."

Tuimaseve is aiming for a top six finish in Tokyo.

"The goal is to first make a final, which is top eight and then I want to finish where I qualified, which is top six. That'll be a very good day for me. 

"Anything more than that would be like, okay, let's have a three-day party when we come back," he quipped.

"But you know I've just got to go out there and have fun and enjoy myself."

But winning a medal isn't too far from his mind either. 

"I want to go to Paris 2024, I want a medal in Paris … I suppose that's the next goal after this, but first I want to take a break somewhere so if anyone knows anyone who might have a farm and some cows to milk for a week on holiday let me know."