Dylan Alcott

Dylan Martin Alcott,  (born 4 December 1990) is an Australian wheelchair basketballer, wheelchair tennis player, radio host and motivational speaker. Alcott was a member of the Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team, known colloquially as the Australian "Rollers". At the age of 17 he became the youngest Australian "Rollers" wheelchair basketball gold medal winner for wheelchair basketball, and was the youngest to compete in the Wheelchair Basketball competition. In 2014, he returned to wheelchair tennis with the aiming of participating at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won gold medals in the Men's Quad Singles and Doubles. He was named the 2016 Australian Paralympian of the Year due to his outstanding achievements at Rio Paralympics. Alongside his sporting career, he hosted the weekend afternoon radio show on Australian radio station Triple J, and the ABC live music show The Set, as well as being a commentator for the 2019 Australian Open. He also was a member of the panel on the AFL Footy Show in 2019. He is the only man to complete the Calendar-Year Grand Slam in quad doubles, winning all four Major titles in 2019; in addition he has also won a non-calendar year Grand Slam in quad singles.

Early life
Dylan Alcott was born in Melbourne, Victoria, to parents Martin and Resie. He has an older brother Zack. He was born with a tumor wrapped around his spinal cord which was operated on during the first few weeks of his life. The tumor was successfully cut out; however, it left Alcott a paraplegic, requiring him to use a wheelchair.

Alcott attended Brighton Grammar School from grade 6, and competed for Victoria in swimming, and Australia for wheelchair tennis and wheelchair basketball. Alcott graduated Brighton Grammar school in 2008.

Alcott's first sport of choice was wheelchair tennis, where he represented Australia on numerous occasions, reaching a  ranking of 100 in the world by age 16 (4th in the world for under-18s).

Basketball

Alcott played his first game of wheelchair basketball aged 14. Alcott made his debut for the Rollers at the World Championship, where they won a bronze medal. Alcott continued to hold his spot and was a member of the Rollers who travelled to the Beijing Olympic warm-up tournament in January 2008. Alcott made his name in basketball through his performances in the national league competition, competing for the Dandenong Rangers and being selected in the all star team for 2008. He has achieved success through junior competition as well; being named the Most Valuable Player at the Junior National Basketball Championships.

Alcott was part of the gold medal winning Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia.  In his first Paralympics Dylan was quoted; "To be 17 and win gold... well it just doesn't get any better than that".

In 2009, Alcott accepted a scholarship at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he went on to win the College Championship division with the University of Illinois wheelchair basketball team. After one year of study, he decided to move back to Melbourne to train for the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

In 2010, Alcott was a part of the Rollers success at the 2010 World Championships in Birmingham, England. It was the first world championship the Australian wheelchair basketball team had ever won, and Alcott was named in the World All Star 5 for the tournament.

At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Alcott was part of the Australian men's wheelchair team that won silver.

Tennis

In 2014, Alcott returned to wheelchair tennis. At the age of 16, he was ranked inside the top five juniors in the world. In July 2014, he defeated world number three Andy Lapthorne 7–5, 6–1 in the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championship final in Nottingham to win his first Super Series crown. Early in the year, he won the New Zealand Open in just his second tournament appearance. In January 2015, he won the quad wheelchair Australian Open title by defeating David Wagner in straight sets. It was his maiden grand slam title. At the conclusion on 2015, he was ranked number 1 after winning eight titles including two grand slam singles titles. In 2018, Alcott won his first Wheelchair Tennis Masters title in the Quads singles event.

Grand Slam tournament finals

Quad singles: 10 (9 titles, 1 runner-up)

Source:

Quad doubles: 13 (6 titles, 7 runner-ups)

Source:

Paralympic Games
Alcott teamed up with Heath Davidson to win the Men's Quad Doubles gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. They defeated the reigning champions David Wagner and Nick Taylor in the gold medal match 4–6, 6–4, 7–5. The day after winning gold in the Men's Doubles, he defeated Andy Lapthorne 6–3, 6–4 to win the gold medal in the Men's Quad Singles.

Personal life
Alcott finished studying at the University of Melbourne and now has a Commerce degree. He currently works as a motivational speaker and as a radio host on Triple J.

In his spare time, Alcott attends music festivals, and has become known for his 'wheelchair crowdsurfing'. In 2018, he launched Ability Fest, a universally accessible music festival, featuring pathways for wheelchairs, quiet areas for people with sensory disabilities, and Auslan (Australian Sign Language) interpreters.

He was a panel member on the AFL Footy Show until the show was cancelled in 2019

Alcott's advice to young people with a disability is: "The biggest thing is that for every one thing you can’t do, there are 10,000 others you can. For every one idiot to give you a hard time, there are 10,000 others worth your time."

In 2017, Alcott established the Dylan Alcott Foundation "with the core purpose of helping young Australians with disabilities gain self-esteem and respect through sport and study". In September 2017, Alcott was appointed Australian Patron for International Day of People with Disability.

The book Able: gold medals, grand slams and smashing glass ceilings, written with Grantlee Kieza, was published by ABC Books in 2018.

Recognition
 2009 – Medal of the Order of Australia
 2015 – Tennis Australia Newcombe Medal nominee
 2015 – Tennis Australia Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability
 2015 – Victorian Institute of Sport Award of Excellence
 2016 – Governor's Award for Victorian Sportsperson of the Year
 2016 – Finalist for 'The Don Award' Sport Australia Hall of Fame awards
 2016 – Australian Paralympian of the Year and Australian Male Paralympian of the Year
 2016 – Tennis Australia Awards – Newcombe Medal and shared the Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability with doubles partner Heath Davidson
 2016 – Victorian Institute of Sport  Elite Athlete with a Disability Award
2018 – International Tennis Federation Quad Wheelchair World Champion
 2019 – Logie Awards – Graham Kennedy Award for Most Popular New Talent
2019 – Victorian Institute of Sport Elite Athlete with a Disability Award 
2019 – Tennis Australia Most Outstanding Athlete with a Disability

References

External links

 
 Australian Paralympic Committee profile
 

Category:1990 births
Category:Living people
Category:Australian men's wheelchair basketball players
Category:Australian male tennis players
Category:Wheelchair tennis players
Category:Wheelchair category Paralympic competitors
Category:Paralympic wheelchair basketball players of Australia
Category:Paralympic wheelchair tennis players of Australia
Category:Paralympic gold medalists for Australia
Category:Paralympic silver medalists for Australia
Category:Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Category:Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Category:Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Category:Wheelchair basketball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Category:Wheelchair tennis players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Category:Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia
Category:People educated at Brighton Grammar School
Category:People with paraplegia
Category:Australian disability rights activists
Category:Illinois Fighting Illini Paralympic athletes
Category:Tennis people from Victoria (Australia)
Category:Guards (basketball)