Para-athlete in sports ad

Cambridge para-athlete Maioro Barton is featured in a national television advertisement for Rebel Sport.

Well known for his wheelchair basketball, Barton was approached via Facebook to see if he would be interested in taking part in the ad, which required him to do pull-ups.

Before being accepted for the role he had to send a video of himself doing pull-up exercises to the advertising team, to show he was capable.

Then he got the thumbs up and travelled to Auckland for filming which took about 45 minutes.

‘‘I would have done at least 60 pull ups in sets of five to ten so they could get the perfect angle shot,’’ he said.

‘‘But it’s not something that you can just do straight away, I’ve had to train hard for it over the years.’’

He is sponsored by the Cambridge Fitness Centre.

Barton said the ad is an emotive piece rather than a promotion.

‘‘It’s a big campaign that features All Black Malakai Fekitoa and explores the ‘why’ that drives him to be a rugby player and person he is,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s a compelling story that’s well told - and with a motivating message.’’ The ad will play on television and in cinemas.