Not many people can lay claim to being a
Paralympic gold medallist and world champion while still being in their teenage years.
Then again, there aren’t many people like
Dylan Alcott.
Dylan, a dual sport athlete, has represented
Australia on the international stage in both wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis since the age of 13.
In 2008, at the age of 17, Dylan was a main contributor in the
Australian wheelchair basketball teams.
The Rollers won gold medal victory at the 2008
Paralympic games in
Beijing, becoming the youngest ever wheelchair basketball gold medallist in history.
Dylan was born with a rare type of tumour wrapped around his spinal cord, which required immediate surgery only weeks after birth. After a three-year battle for his life, Dylan was able to defy the odds as his health started to improve, and through sheer determination and hard work has been able to strive into one of
Australia’s best and widely recognised
Paralympians.
One of Dylan’s greatest achievements was being inducted as a member of the
Order of Australia in 2009 at the age of 18. From there, Dylan and The Rollers followed up their win in Beijing with victory at the
2010 FIBA World Championships, becoming the first
Australian basketball team to ever win the title. At the tournament,
Alcott was selected in the
World All Star 5, making him the best player in his position in the world. In
2012, he returned from the
London Paralympic Games with a silver medal.
In
2013, Dylan re-launched his tennis career and was granted a wild card into the 2014
Australian open, reaching the semi-final. After only
18 months into his comeback, Dylan won his first ever grand slam title,
The Australian Open, and is currently ranked number one in the world and is a three-times
Grand Slam winner.
Dylan is also a keen philanthropist, and in late 2014, Dylan broke the world record playing wheelchair tennis for 24 consecutive hour’s non-stop, setting the new world record and raising an incredible $
100,000 for two charities –
The Starlight Foundation and
Variety.
Dylan’s achievements are not only restricted to the sporting field. He is studying commerce at
Melbourne University, fulfilling his role as the ambassador for Variety, the
Children’s charity, The Starlight Foundation and
OCS Group Australia.
Dylan’s true passion is his work as a motivational speaker, and through his inspirational storytelling, Dylan is continually trying to alter and change the way people with disabilities are perceived in the wider community.
In
2015, Dylan delivered his first ever
TED talk at the TEDx
Sydney event at the
Sydney Opera House.
He also works as a keynote corporate speaker, brings disability awareness to schools, enjoys being an MC, and is a regular guest on many radio and television stations across Australia.
He is also a national athlete spokesperson for the Australian Paralympic committee and is world renown for his wheelchair crowd surfing at music festivals. Dylan is currently training for Rio
Paralympics.
In this video Dylan shares the important take away from his keynote presentation.
For more about Dylan go to:
http://www.icmi.com.au/dylan-alcott
To find out more about our
Education Speakers click here: http://www.icmi.com.au/education-speakers
https://youtu.be/aL31zQwtW4s
Education
Paralympian
Inspirational
Motivational
ICMI Video
- published: 16 Mar 2016
- views: 67