Dylan Martin Alcott AO

Not many athletes can lay claim to a Paralympic gold medal and a world championship before their 20th birthday. Then again, there aren’t many athletes like Dylan Alcott.

Dylan achieved the rare feat when the then 19-year old was part of the Australian wheelchair basketball team which secured the 2010 World Championship after famously winning gold at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Having only started playing basketball in 2003, Dylan first represented Australia at the 2006 Junior Nationals, where he was named the “most valuable player”.

Dylan believes the Beijing Games were the best experience of his life and feels lucky and privileged as a 17-year old to be part of a world-beating basketball team.

Not only is Dylan an international basketballer, he is also an accomplished tennis player having played in  30 countries and reaching as high as number six in the junior world rankings. One of his proudest moments was winning three silvers at the Tennis World Team Cup.

Dylan received a scholarship to attend the University of Illinois in the USA to train and compete in the university’s extensive wheelchair basketball team program. Dylan attended the University of Illinois for a year, but even better opportunities arose in Melbourne so he returned to the University of Melbourne to study commerce and prepare for the 2012 London Games.

As well as Dylan’s great sporting talent, he has a love of music, can sing and play the drums.