Todd Hodgetts

{{Infobox sportsperson

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| name = Todd Hodgetts

| image = XXXX15 - Todd Hodgetts - 3b - 2016 Team processing.jpg

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| caption = 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Hodgetts

| birth_name =

| fullname = Todd Hodgetts

| nickname = The Hulk

| nationality = Australian

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| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|3|23|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

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| country = Australia

| sport = Athletics

| event = Shot Put

| collegeteam =

| club = Scott Martin

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Todd Hodgetts, {{post-nominals|country=AUS|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,{{cite web|title=Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced|url=https://www.paralympic.org.au/11564-2/|website=Australian Paralympic Committee News, 2 August 2016|access-date=2 August 2016}} and also competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.{{Cite web|date=23 July 2021|title=Para-athletics Team Set To 'Do What Australia Does Best' At Tokyo 2020|url=https://www.paralympic.org.au/2021/07/para-athletics-team-set-to-do-what-australia-does-best-at-tokyo-2020/|access-date=23 July 2021|website=Paralympics Australia}}

Personal

Todd Hodgetts was born on 23 March 1988 in Launceston, Tasmania,{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/todd-hodgetts |title=Todd Hodgetts|publisher=Australian Paralympic Committee |location=Australia |access-date=13 July 2012}} and grew up in the suburb of Newstead.{{cite web|first=Richard|last=Welsh |url=http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/12/20/116901_sport-news.html |title=Mason squad rules Sport |work=The Mercury |date=20 December 2009 |access-date=9 July 2012}}{{cite web|first=Chris|last=Dutton |url=http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/act-sport/canberras-paralympic-athletes-aim-for-games-glory-20120606-1zveh.html |title=Canberra's Paralympic athletes aim for Games glory |work=The Canberra Times|location=Australian Capital Territory |date=6 June 2012 |access-date=9 July 2012}} He lived in Tasmania until 2011, when he moved to Canberra to improve his chances of making the 2012 Summer Paralympics.{{cite web|last=Edwards |first=Phil |url=http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/sport/athletics/hodgetts-throws-record/2512318.aspx |title=Hodgetts throws record |publisher=The Examiner|date=5 April 2012 |access-date=23 July 2012}} After the London Games, he relocated to Melbourne. He is studying for a certificate IV in fitness as of 2012.

He has an autism spectrum disorder.{{cite web|url=http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/09/20/362167_sport-news.html|title=Paralympic hero returns|work=The Mercury|date=20 September 2012|first=Bruce|last=Mounster|access-date=5 October 2012}} Other sports in which he participates include weightlifting.

Athletics

File:090912 - Todd Hodgetts - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics (01).jpg

Nicknamed "The Hulk",{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org.au/news/hulk-hodgetts-man-beat|title=Hulk Hodgetts is the man to beat|publisher=Australian Paralympic Committee|date=18 July 2013|access-date=1 November 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101065218/http://www.paralympic.org.au/news/hulk-hodgetts-man-beat|archive-date=1 November 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/AUSParalympics/posts/315994008499933|title=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|work=Australian Paralympic Team Facebook page|date=9 September 2012|access-date=21 December 2014}}{{Primary source inline|date=December 2020}} Hodgetts specialises in the shot put.{{cite web|url=http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/03/26/312731_sport-news.html |title=Sprint doubles decided|work=The Mercury |date=26 March 2012 |access-date=9 July 2012}} He competes in the F20 classification.{{cite web|last=Landsberg |first=Jayne |url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/07/09/3541979.htm |title=Hodgetts stoked about Paralympic selection |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=9 July 2012 |access-date=23 July 2012}} He is coached by Gus Puopolo. He works with a gymnastics coach to help with his balance and conditioning. He is a member of the Newstead Athletics Club.{{cite web|url=http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/04/03/65065_sport-news.html |title=Tassie athletes for Adelaide|work=The Mercury |date=3 April 2009 |access-date=8 July 2012}}File:090912 - Todd Hodgetts - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics (05).jpgHodgetts started competing in athletics in shot put in 1998 after his brother brought home a shot put from high school and encouraged him to try it as kind of a joke. 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.examiner.com.au/news/local/sport/general/philpott-sprints-ahead/1058428.aspx |title=Philpott sprints ahead |publisher=The Examiner|date=11 January 2004 |access-date=9 July 2012}}

Hodgetts made his national team debut in 2005. In 2008, he was the Australian champion in the shot put. He competed at the 2009 Australian national athletics championships in Adelaide. In 2009, at an Athletics South flagship interclub competition, he won the shot put with a distance of 15.43 m. At the 2012 Tasmanian Track and Field Championships, he had a season's best throw of 16.04 m to win the event. At the 2012 Australian Athletics Championships, he set a world record in the shot put.{{cite web|url=http://www.paralympic.org/news/world-records-fall-australian-athletics-championships |title=World Records Fall at Australian Athletics Championships|publisher=International Paralympic Committee |date= 17 April 2012|access-date=23 July 2012}} At the 2012 London Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the Men's Shot Put F20 event.{{cite web |url=https://www.paralympic.org/todd-hodgetts |title=Todd Hodgetts |website=Paralympic.org |publisher=International Paralympic Committee |access-date=5 October 2012}} After the Games, he underwent elbow surgery.

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.{{cite web|title=#IPC13: Hodgetts adds bronze to London 2012 victory|url=http://www.athletics.com.au/home/news/news/2013/july/ipc13_hodgetts_adds_bronze_t|work=Athletics Australia News|date=22 July 2013|access-date=22 July 2013}} 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."{{cite news |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/australia-day-honours-list-2014-in-full/story-fni0cx12-1226808786064|title=Australia Day honours list 2014: in full |date=26 January 2014 |access-date=26 January 2014}}File:090912 - Todd Hodgetts - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics (02).jpgAt 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."{{cite web|title=Doha 2015|url=http://www.athletics.com.au/News/doha-2015-97|website=Athletics Australia News|date=23 October 2015|access-date=23 October 2015}}

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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.unisport.com.au/images/AUG15_Athletics_FINAL_RESULTS.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=26 July 2016 |archive-date=16 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916032533/http://www.unisport.com.au/images/AUG15_Athletics_FINAL_RESULTS.pdf |url-status=dead }}

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.{{cite news|last1=Rollinson|first1=Scott|title=Tasmanian paralympic shot-putter Todd Hodgetts breaks his own world record|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-14/paralympic-shotputter-todd-hodgetts-breaks-world-record/7166708|access-date=14 February 2016|work=ABC News|date=14 February 2016}}

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.{{cite web|last1=Ryner|first1=Sascha|title=A silver lining for Australia|url=http://athletics.com.au/News/a-silver-lining-for-australia|website=Athletics Australia News, 16 July 2017|access-date=19 July 2017}} 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).[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-01/malaysian-shot-putter-disqualified-three-minutes-late/100427010 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 His passionate interview after the event had some in the press calling him an "instant legend",[https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/paralympics/australian-paralympic-shot-putter-todd-hodgetts-becomes-instant-legend-in-passionate-interview-c-3840100 Australian Paralympic shot putter Todd Hodgetts becomes instant legend in passionate interview], The West Australian, 1 September 2021 and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called the interview "inspiring".[https://www.macleayargus.com.au/story/7413066/scomo-and-the-hulk-arrange-a-date-after-inspiring-paralympic-performance/ Paralympian Todd Hodgetts, Prime Minister Scott Morrison catch-up], Macleay Argus, 2 September 2021

Recognition

2015 – Athletics Australia Male Para-athlete of the Year.{{cite web|title=Athletics Gala|url=http://www.athletics.com.au/News/athletics-gala|website=Athletics Australia News|date=10 April 2016|access-date=10 April 2016}}
2015 – Tasmanian Athlete of the Year finalist.{{cite news|title=Amy Cure wins 2015 Tasmanian Athlete of the Year|url=http://www.examiner.com.au/story/3523634/amy-cure-wins-2015-tasmanian-athlete-of-the-year/|access-date=2 December 2015|work=The Examiner|date=27 November 2015}}
2016 - Victorian Institute of Sport William Angliss Personal Excellence Award{{cite web|title=Mighty Mack wins Award of Excellence|url=http://www.vis.org.au/news-events/news/mighty-mack-wins-award-of-excellence/|website=Victorian Institute of Sport website|access-date=1 December 2016|archive-date=2 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202101419/http://www.vis.org.au/news-events/news/mighty-mack-wins-award-of-excellence/|url-status=dead}}

References

External links

{{Paralympics Australia|todd-hodgetts}}
{{IPC athlete|todd-hodgetts|old_id=721401}}
[http://athletics.possumbility.com/athletes/athlete6516.htm Todd Hodgetts] at Australian Athletics Historical Results

Category:1988 births

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics

Category:Intellectual disability-category Paralympic competitors

Category:Living people

Category:Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Category:Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

Category:Paralympic athletes for Australia

Category:Paralympic gold medalists for Australia

Category:Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia

Category:Sportspeople from Launceston, Tasmania