Tony Christiansen

In 2015, Christiansen returned to circuit racing and joined the Star Touring Car series. His car has a Holden body and runs on a Suzuki GSXR engine. He won the 2016 series with the highest points in the Star Car category.

Christiansen rides his handcycles regularly as a form of exercise. In January 2015, he took part in the Round The Mountain Paracycling Challenge with 5 other handcyclist, riding the steep leg 4 of 6 legs. The challenge was a 150 km route around Mount Taranaki in New Plymouth.

The following month, Christiansen attempted and successfully rode the entire length of the Otago Central Rail Trail. He described the effort to be harder than he had expected as either his front steering wheel or both his back wheels were always grinding into the loose rocks. This resulted in him riding 8 to 11 hours a day. He started the ride in Clyde on 21 February and completed his feat in Middlemarch on 25 February 2015.

Through Thiele, Christiansen was introduced to members of the Paralympic Committee of the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (FIBT) who were campaigning to introduce a two-man adaptive bobsled competition as a demonstration sport at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. In January 2012, Christiansen participated in the first ever International Introduction and Development School for Adaptive Bobsled and Skeleton hosted by the United States Bobsled and Skeleton Federation and the Utah Olympic Park Track. He took the position and qualified as a bobsled driver.

In 2010 at Whakapapa skifield, Christiansen met American adaptive ski instructor Travis Thiele, who works with the National Ability Center in the United States and took his first lesson in adaptive skiing. Christiansen did not fall. Thiele described Christiansen as "strong as an ox" and admitted that he had never in his career met a first-time adaptive skier who did not fall on his first attempt.

In 2010, Christiansen put his name forward for a seat in the Tauranga City Council local body elections. He won and was the highest polling at-large candidate with 10,890 votes. He was not re-elected in the 2013 elections.

In 2008, having watched the movie "The World's Fastest Indian" 27 times on Air New Zealand flights, Christiansen was inspired to become "The World’s Fastest Amputee". He set a goal to attempt to reach 200 mph (321 km/h) on the famed Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, United States.

Christiansen was a candidate for the Bay of Plenty (New Zealand electorate) for the Kiwi Party in the 2008 General Election. He did not win the seat, garnering 2,258 votes, losing to incumbent Tony Ryall.

In 2002, Christiansen was invited by Korean Broadcasting System to scale Mount Kilimanjaro with 2 other Koreans – Soo Young, a blind young woman and Hong Bin, an experienced mountaineer who lost all his fingers to frostbite on a climbing expedition in Canada.

The group reached the summit of the mountain on 21 December 2002. Christiansen reached Gilman's Point, the second highest peak at 5,685 metres. He did not reach Uhuru, the highest peak at 5,895 metres as he admitted in his book that he could not physically go on through the incredibly steep and rough terrain at the summit. It was also snowing and raining and it was getting dark, all making it too dangerous to carry on.

On 24 March 1998, Christiansen created aviation history when he became the first disabled New Zealander to fly solo. According to a Civil Aviation Authority spokeswoman, Christiansen was the first person who had learned to fly from scratch with a disability.

In order to drive, Christiansen integrates a hand control which are motorcycle-style twist throttle attached to a handle, in all his cars. He names his midget race car "Toenails" and over the years have won several races locally at the Baypark Speedway and domestically. He also competed in the Pre-65 races in a Ford Zephyr Mark III and made his sprint car debut at Western Springs in November 1996.

He obtained his Second Degree Black Belt in 1990 and decided to move on to other things.

Christiansen was introduced to martial arts in 1986 through one of his children who was taking Tae Kwon Do lessons and he decided to aim for a black belt. He trained under Allan France and later under Master Kesi O’Neill after France moved to Australia.

Christiansen later left Commercial Signs. In 1985, he returned and took a stake in the company. In 1995, he bought over the rest of the shareholding and became the sole owner of the company. For the next 2 years, he turned it into one of the largest commercial signwriting business in New Zealand and sold it in 1997 to begin his career as a professional speaker.

In 1978, Christiansen was granted a Special Achievement Award from World Life Saving which today is known as the International Life Saving Federation. In the same year, he gained his instructor's certificate.

During his career in athletics, Christiansen held several local records and was the area pentathlon champion in 1978.

Christiansen trained for the National Disabled Games in Wellington and competed in wheelchair racing, shot put, discus, javelin and swimming. In 1972, he was nominated for a New Zealand Herald Junior Sports Award which he did not win but was recognized by the judges who included Yvette Corlett (1952 Olympic long jump champion), Murray Halberg and Don Oliver. In 1976, he was nominated again and this time he won the award for paraplegic sports.

On 6 May 1971, Christiansen came just behind the mayor Bob Owen in that 2-mile (3.2 km) race and in February 1974, he beat the mayor in the Annual Harbour "Swimathon".

On the morning of 3 June 1967 which was Queen's Birthday weekend, Christiansen had followed friend Gary Winters and his father Mick to the railway yard near Te Maunga to bag coal for sale to raise money for charity. As the two children were crossing the tracks, the train shunted backwards dragging Christiansen under and the dual set of wheels ran over his legs almost severing them.

Anthony (Tony) Steven Christiansen (born 23 October 1958) is a motivational and inspirational speaker from New Zealand who lost his legs as a result of a train accident in his childhood.