Dean Turner said he has held the Australian record of 6.36 metres for eight years.

He also holds the Oceania long jump record of 5.99 metres.

The Ingleburn athlete competed in track and fields events at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, which he

described as a worthwhile experience. ``I really enjoyed myself,'' he said.

``I did well in the 100metres too but I just missed out in the finals. Even though I did, it was a great experience to be part of the team.

``On one of my training days I landed in a wrong position and I injured my groin so I had to go to physio twice a day. That's part of the sport I suppose.''

Turner, who has an intellectual disability, completed the 100 metre sprint in 11.48 seconds only a 10th of a second off his personal best time.

He said athletes who missed out on this year's Paralympics should appreciate getting to the selections.

``It's tough going all the way to China I've never been there but my advice is to keep training really hard and to do your best,'' Turner said. ``I still train pretty hard, at least two times a week.''

Turner recently competed in a national competition at Brisbane where he took home a silver in the long jump.