Todd Hodgetts

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] and also competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.[2]

Todd Hodgetts
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Hodgetts
Personal information
Full nameTodd Hodgetts
Nickname(s)The Hulk
NationalityAustralian
Born (1988-03-23) 23 March 1988
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Sport
CountryAustralia
SportAthletics
Event(s)Shot Put
ClubScott Martin
Medal record
Track and field
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Men's Shot Put F20
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio Men's Shot Put F20
IPC Athletics World Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 DohaMen's Shot Put F20
Bronze medal – third place2013 LyonMen's Shot Put F20
Bronze medal – third place 2017 London Shot put F20

Personal

Todd Hodgetts was born on 23 March 1988 in Launceston, Tasmania,[3] and grew up in the suburb of Newstead.[4][5][6] He lived in Tasmania until 2011, when he moved to Canberra to improve his chances of making the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[3][7] After the London Games, he relocated to Melbourne.[8] He is studying for a certificate IV in fitness as of 2012.[3]

He has an autism spectrum disorder.[9] Other sports in which he participates include weightlifting.[3]

Athletics
Hodgetts at the 2012 London Paralympics

Nicknamed "The Hulk",[10][11] Hodgetts specialises in the shot put.[12][13] He competes in the F20 classification.[3][14] He is coached by Gus Puopolo.[10] He works with a gymnastics coach to help with his balance and conditioning.[14] He is a member of the Newstead Athletics Club.[5][13]

Hodgetts at the 2012 London Paralympics

Hodgetts started competing in athletics in shot put in 1998[3] after his brother brought home a shot put from high school and encouraged him to try it as kind of a joke.[14] 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.[13]

Hodgetts made his national team debut in 2005.[3] In 2008, he was the Australian champion in the shot put.[5] He competed at the 2009 Australian national athletics championships in Adelaide.[5] In 2009, at an Athletics South flagship interclub competition, he won the shot put with a distance of 15.43 m.[4] At the 2012 Tasmanian Track and Field Championships, he had a season's best throw of 16.04 m to win the event.[12] At the 2012 Australian Athletics Championships, he set a world record in the shot put.[3][15] At the 2012 London Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the Men's Shot Put F20 event.[16] After the Games, he underwent elbow surgery.[8]

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.[8] 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."[17]

Gold medallist Hodgetts at the 2012 London Paralympics

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."[18]

At the 2015 Australian University Games, he would claim Gold in the Men's Shot Put, with a throw of 15.64m, competing for Victoria University.[19]

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.[20]

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F20 with a throw of 15.82 m.

Hodgetts won bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F20 with a throw of 15.96 m at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England.[21] At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, he finished ninth inm the Men's Shot Put F20. England

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, technical officials flagged that Hodgetts and Ecuador's Jordi Congo-Villalba and Malaysian Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli were late to the pre-event call-room. They were allowed to compete, but were marked as DNS (Did Not Start).[22] His passionate interview after the event had some in the press calling him an "instant legend",[23] and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the interview "inspiring".[24]

Recognition

References
  1. "Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 2 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  2. "Para-athletics Team Set To 'Do What Australia Does Best' At Tokyo 2020". Paralympics Australia. 23 July 2021. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  3. "Todd Hodgetts". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  4. Welsh, Richard (20 December 2009). "Mason squad rules Sport". The Mercury. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  5. "Tassie athletes for Adelaide". The Mercury. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  6. Dutton, Chris (6 June 2012). "Canberra's Paralympic athletes aim for Games glory". The Canberra Times. Australian Capital Territory. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  7. Edwards, Phil (5 April 2012). "Hodgetts throws record". The Examiner. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  8. "#IPC13: Hodgetts adds bronze to London 2012 victory". Athletics Australia News. 22 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  9. Mounster, Bruce (20 September 2012). "Paralympic hero returns". The Mercury. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  10. "Hulk Hodgetts is the man to beat". Australian Paralympic Committee. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 November 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  11. "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.
  12. "Sprint doubles decided". The Mercury. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  13. "Philpott sprints ahead". The Examiner. 11 January 2004. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  14. Landsberg, Jayne (9 July 2012). "Hodgetts stoked about Paralympic selection". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  15. "World Records Fall at Australian Athletics Championships". International Paralympic Committee. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  16. "Todd Hodgetts". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  17. "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  18. "Doha 2015". Athletics Australia News. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  19. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. Rollinson, Scott (14 February 2016). "Tasmanian paralympic shot-putter Todd Hodgetts breaks his own world record". ABC News. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  21. Ryner, Sascha. "A silver lining for Australia". Athletics Australia News, 16 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  22. Malaysia's Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli throws longest distance in F20 shot-put, loses appeal for being late to call room before event, ABC, 1 September 2021
  23. Australian Paralympic shot putter Todd Hodgetts becomes instant legend in passionate interview, The West Australian, 1 September 2021
  24. Paralympian Todd Hodgetts, Prime Minister Scott Morrison catch-up, Macleay Argus, 2 September 2021
  25. "Athletics Gala". Athletics Australia News. 10 April 2016. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  26. "Amy Cure wins 2015 Tasmanian Athlete of the Year". The Examiner. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  27. "Mighty Mack wins Award of Excellence". Victorian Institute of Sport website. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
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