Todd Hodgetts
2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Hodgetts | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Todd Hodgetts | |||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | The Hulk | |||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Launceston, Tasmania | 23 March 1988|||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | Shot Put | |||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Newstead Harriers | |||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Gus Puopolo | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Todd Hodgetts, OAM (born 23 March 1988) is an Australian athlete on the autism spectrum who won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. [1]
Personal
Todd Hodgetts was born on 23 March 1988 in Launceston,[2] and is from Newstead.[3][4][5] He lived in Tasmania until 2011, when he moved to Canberra to improve his chances of making the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[2][6] After the London Games, he relocated to Melbourne.[7] He is studying for a certificate IV in fitness as of 2012.[2]
He has an autism spectrum disorder.[8] Other sports in which he participates include weightlifting.[2]
Athletics
Nicknamed "The Hulk",[9][10] Hodgetts specialises in the shot put.[11][12] He competes in the F20 classification.[2][13] He is coached by Gus Puopolo.[9] He works with a gymnastics coach to help with his balance and conditioning.[13] He is a member of the Newstead Harriers.[4][12]
Hodgetts started competing in athletics in shot put in 1998[2] after his brother brought home a shot put from high school and encouraged him to try it as kind of a joke.[13] At the 2004 Tasmanian Athletics Championships, he competed in the under-18 shot put event where he scored a state record with one of his throws.[12]
Hodgetts made his national team debut in 2005.[2] In 2008, he was the Australian champion in the shot put.[4] He competed at the 2009 Australian national athletics championships in Adelaide.[4] In 2009, at an Athletics South flagship interclub competition, he won the shot put with a distance of 15.43 m.[3] At the 2012 Tasmanian Track and Field Championships, he had a season's best throw of 16.04 m to win the event.[11] At the 2012 Australian Athletics Championships, he set a world record in the shot put.[2][14] At the 2012 London Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the Men's Shot Put F20 event.[15] After the Games, he underwent elbow surgery.[7]
In 2013, Hodgetts relocated to Melbourne to train under throws coach Gus Puoplo. Competing at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, he won a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F20.[7] He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."[16]
At the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Hodgetts won the gold men in the Men's Shot Put F20 with a championship record of 15.83 m. After winning the gold medal, Hodgetts said: "People wrote me off after London. I had two surgeries and people were saying that I couldn’t come back, it’s amazing that I have. The faith that my coach, and Athletics Australia, and the team at the VIS had in me made me confident that I could and it’s awesome." [17]
At the 2015 Australian Uni Games, he would claim Gold in the Men's Shot Put, with a throw of 15.64m, competing for Victoria University.[18]
On 13 February 2016 at the Briggs Athletics Classic in Hobart, Tasmania, he threw the shot put 16.33 m to break the world record of 16.24 m for the Men's F20 that he set at the 2012 Paralympic Games.[19]
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F20 with a throw of 15.82.
Recognition
- 2015 – Athletics Australia Male Para-athlete of the Year. [20]
- 2015 – Tasmanian Athlete of the Year finalist.[21]
- 2016 - Victorian Institute of Sport William Angliss Personal Excellence Award [22]
References
- ↑ "Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Todd Hodgetts". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- 1 2 Welsh, Richard (20 December 2009). "Mason squad rules Sport". The Mercury. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 "Tassie athletes for Adelaide". The Mercury. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ↑ Dutton, Chris (6 June 2012). "Canberra's Paralympic athletes aim for Games glory". Australian Capital Territory: Canberra Times. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ↑ Edwards, Phil (5 April 2012). "Hodgetts throws record". The Examiner. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- 1 2 3 "#IPC13: Hodgetts adds bronze to London 2012 victory". Athletics Australia News. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ↑ Mounster, Bruce (20 September 2012). "Paralympic hero returns". The Mercury. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- 1 2 "Hulk Hodgetts is the man to beat". Australian Paralympic Committee. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
- ↑ "VIDEO: Australia's Todd Hodgetts lived up to his nickname "The Hulk" after throwing a world record to claim gold in the F20 shot put final". Australian Paralympic Team Facebook page. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- 1 2 "Sprint doubles decided". The Mercury. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- 1 2 3 "Philpott sprints ahead". The Examiner. 11 January 2004. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- 1 2 3 Landsberg, Jayne (9 July 2012). "Hodgetts stoked about Paralympic selection". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ↑ "World Records Fall at Australian Athletics Championships". International Paralympic Committee. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ↑ Results for Todd Hodgetts from the International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ↑ "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". Daily Telegraph. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
- ↑ "Doha 2015". Athletics Australia News. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- ↑ http://www.unisport.com.au/images/AUG15_Athletics_FINAL_RESULTS.pdf
- ↑ Rollinson, Scott (14 February 2016). "Tasmanian paralympic shot-putter Todd Hodgetts breaks his own world record". ABC News. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
- ↑ "Athletics Gala". Athletics Australia News. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ↑ "Amy Cure wins 2015 Tasmanian Athlete of the Year". The Examiner. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ↑ "Mighty Mack wins Award of Excellence". Victorian Institute of Sport website. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
External links
- Australian Paralympic Committee profile
- International Paralympic Committee profile
- Athletics Australia results