The Girton Grammar year eight student  won gold in the boys 14-15 years 3km para event at the School Sport Australia championships in Perth in August.

This followed silver in the July state race that qualified him to represent Victoria. 

Liam’s efforts were all the more remarkable because of the broken ankle he sustained last December.

“He was only given the OK from the physio to resume training one week before the state titles,” mum Kylie Richardson said.

Fourteen-year-old Liam, from Newstead-Strangways, has cerebral palsy and is classified as a T35 athlete.

He took up athletics in 2012 with immediate success, winning the 800m and 200m at the national primary school track and field titles.

He collected silver at the Australian cross country championships last year and was thrilled to go one better this time around.

But after crossing the line, Liam had to wait until officials compared all AWD athletes’ times to the world record in their classification to determine their final standings.

He scored the highest percentage and was awarded the gold medal.

“It was close and I was a bit nervous, so it felt like a long wait,”  he said.

“But I was very happy and excited to win.”

Liam’s sporting talents are not restricted to running.

He also plays football for Newstead and represented Australia in dressage at the 2012 Hope Cup in Taiwan for horse riders with a disability.