Stephen Eaton

{{Short description|Australian Paralympic athlete (born 1975)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}

{{Use Australian English|date=September 2011}}

{{Infobox sportsperson|

| name = Stephen Eaton

| image = 150600 - Stephen Eaton - 3a - 2000 Sydney media guide scan.jpg

| imagesize =

| caption = 2000 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Eaton

| fullname = Stephen Robert Eaton

| nicknames =

| nationality = {{AUS}}

| club =

| collegeteam =

| birth_date ={{birth date and age|1975|9|15|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Toowoomba, Queensland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height =

| weight =

| medaltemplates=

{{MedalSport |Wheelchair athletics}}

{{MedalCompetition|Paralympic Games}}

{{MedalBronze | 1996 Atlanta | Men's Discus F32–33}}

{{MedalGold | 2000 Sydney | Men's Discus F34}}

{{MedalCompetition|IPC World Championships}}

{{MedalSilver | 1998 Birmingham | Men's Discus F34}}

{{MedalBronze | 2002 Lille | Men's Shot-put F33-34}}

}}

File:62 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Field Stephen Eaton.jpg

File:231000 - Athletics discus F34 final Stephen Eaton relaxes - 3b - 2000 Sydney event photo.jpg

Stephen Robert Eaton, OAM{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/886923|title=Eaton, Stephen Robert, OAM|publisher=It's an Honour|accessdate=17 January 2012}} (born 15 September 1975) is an Australian athlete with cerebral palsy from Toowoomba, Queensland who competes at the national and international level in discus throwing and shot put at events such as the Paralympic Games and IPC Athletics World Championships.{{cite web|url=http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/ascmedia/20001011e.html|title=Childhood coach inspires Paralympian|publisher=Australian Sports Commission|date=11 October 2000|access-date=14 February 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219113556/http://fulltext.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2000/ascmedia/20001011e.html|archive-date=19 February 2012}}

Eaton first began to participate in track and field events at the age of eight, under the guidance of coach Anne Marsh. He represented Australia at a Paralympic level for the first time in 1993, and won two gold medals at the 1994 FESPIC Games. He won a bronze medal in the Men's Discus F32–33 event at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics.{{cite web |url=https://www.paralympic.org/stephen-eaton |title=Stephen Eaton |website=Paralympic.org |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |access-date=6 October 2012}} He won a silver medal in the men's discus at the 1998 IPC Athletics World Championships.{{cite journal|title=AIS Athletes leave their mark on IPC World Track and Field Championships Fi|journal=Sports Chat|date=Aug 1998|issue=49|pages=1}} He had an Australian Institute of Sport Athletics with a Disability scholarship from 1997 to 2000. He was also supported by the Queensland Academy of Sport.{{cite web|url=http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/Id/45788|title=Elite athletes inspire school kids to get active|publisher=Government of Queensland|date=26 April 2006|accessdate=6 October 2012}}

He won a gold medal at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in the men's discus F34 event, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia. In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal.{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/970039|title=Eaton, Stephen Robert: Australian Sports Medal|publisher=It's an Honour|accessdate=17 January 2012}}

Eaton has highlighted the therapeutic value of sport for anyone with a disability. He commented "If I didn't play sport I don't know what I would do. I get to meet people and to travel."