Maddison Elliott

Maddison Gae Elliott, OAM (born 3 November 1998) is an Australian swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she became the youngest Australian Paralympic medallist by winning bronze medals in the women's 400 m and 100 m freestyle S8 events. She then became the youngest Australian gold medallist when she was a member of the women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34 points team.[1] At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won three gold and two silver medals.[2]

Maddison Elliott
2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Elliott
Personal information
Full nameMaddison Gae Elliott
Nationality Australia
Born (1998-11-03) 3 November 1998
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClassificationsS8, SB8, SM8, S9, SB9, SM9
ClubNU Swim
CoachPaul Sharman

Personal

Maddison Gae Elliott was born on 3 November 1998 in Newcastle, New South Wales.[3][4] She has right side cerebral palsy as a result of a neonatal stroke, and was diagnosed with the condition when she was four years old.[3] In addition to swimming, she participated in athletics, and by 2010 held six Australian age group classification records.[5] In 2016, she was living in Gillieston Heights, New South Wales, and a year 12 student at Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College. She has an older sister Dimity Elliott.[3][6]

Swimming

Elliott was originally an S8 classified swimmer but in 2017 she was reclassified as S9.[7][3] She is a member of Nuswim Swimming Club,[5] started swimming when she was six months old,[5] and commenced competitive swimming in 2009. She made her national team debut that same year at the Youth Paralympic Games, where she won five gold medals.[3]

Elliott at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

By 2010, Elliott held three Australian age group classification records,[5] and the 2010 New South Wales Multi-Class Long Course Swimming Championships, she had five first-place finishes.[5] She represented Australia at the 2011 Oceania Paralympic Championships, and later that year competed in the Canberra hosted Australian Multi-Class Age Swimming Championships. At that event, she won a bronze, five silver and three gold medals.[3] She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London in swimming.[8][9]

On 31 August 2012 at the London Aquatics Centre, Elliott slashed 23 seconds off her personal best time to win a bronze medal in the S8 400 m freestyle. She went on to win silver in S8 50 m freestyle, bronze in the S8 100 m Freestyle, and gold in the Women's 4x100 m Freestyle Relay – 34 Points.[10][11] She thus became, at age 13, the youngest ever Australian to win a Paralympic medal, surpassing Anne Currie, or a gold medal, a record formerly held by Elizabeth Edmondson.[12][13] Afterwards, she met with Prince Harry and gave him a Lizzie the Frill Neck Lizard,[14] the mascot of the Australian Paralympic Committee and Australia's Paralympic Teams.[15] This resulted in the Australian Chef de Mission, Jason Hellwig, officially presenting Lizzie to the Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), Lord Coe, who gave him a Mandeville in return.[16]

In November 2012, Elliott and Rheed McCracken, the youngest members of the 2012 Paralympic Team, were together named the Paralympic Junior Athlete of the Year.[17] She won gold medals in the Women's 50 m and 100 m Freestyle S8 events and a silver medal in the Women's 400 m Freestyle S8 at the August 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Canada,[18][19] and was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."[4]

Elliott interviewed after being named 2012 Junior Athlete of the Year at the Australian Paralympian of the Year ceremony

Elliott won a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in the women's 100 m S8 freestyle in a world record time of 1:05.32, breaking the record set by Jessica Long in 2012.[20]

At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, Elliott won the gold medals in the women's 50 m freestyle S8, women's 100 m freestyle S8 in a world record time of 1.04.71, women's 100 m backstroke S8 and women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34 points, silver medals in the women's 400 m freestyle S8 and women's 4 × 100 m medley relay 34 points and a bronze medal in the women's 100 m butterfly S8.[21][22][23][24][25]

Elliott at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Her success at the IPC World Championships led to her being awarded Swimming Australia's 2015 Paralympic Swimmer of the Year.[26] In November 2015, she was awarded the New South Wales Institute of Sport Regional Athlete of the Year.[27]

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she was a member of the team that won gold in world record time in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay 34 points, alongside Ellie Cole, Lakeisha Patterson and Ashleigh McConnell.[28] She won her first individual Paralympic gold medal in winning the 100 metre freestyle S8 in a Paralympic record time of 1:04.73, and followed this with gold in the 50 metre freestyle S8 in a world record time of 29.73. In addition, she won silver medals in the 100 metre backstroke S8 and 4 x 100 Medley Relay 34 points.[29] After Elliot's success in the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she was crowned early December as the Australian Paralympic Female Athlete of the Year, adding to her impressive list of accolades.

In 2017, Elliott was reclassified to S9 and subsequently was not selected on Australian teams at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and World Para Swimming Championships. In 2019, Elliott reported that she was subjected to cyber bullying as a result of classification issues.[30]

Recognition
2012 Australian Paralympic Team official photo

References
  1. "Golden girls win relay and break world record". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  2. "Swimming Australia Paralympic Squad Announcement". Swimming Australia News, 13 April 2016. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. "Maddison Elliott". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  4. "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". Daily Telegraph. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  5. Kelly, Lauren (11 November 2010). "Maddison's eyes on Paralympics". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  6. "Bishop Tyrrell Students Competing on the Global Sports Stage". Newcastle Anglican website. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
  7. Greenwood, Emma (18 September 2017). "Paralympic golden girl Maddison Elliott to miss world championships after reclassification". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  8. "Paralympic swim team revealed". Australian Paralympic Committee. 10 July 2012. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  9. "Cowdrey leads Paralympic swim team". ABC Grandstand Sport – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  10. "Maddison Elliott". Official site of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  11. Results for Maddison Elliott (archived). International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  12. Wald, Tom (1 September 2012). "Swimmer Maddison Elliott becomes Australia's youngest Paralympic medallist at 13 years old". Fox Sports. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  13. Paxinos, Stathi (27 August 2012). "Time for a young talent to shine". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
  14. "Australian Paralympic swimmer Maddison Elliott offers feigned 'apology' to Prince Harry". News Limited. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  15. "Lizzie the Lizard". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  16. "Coe: No Paralympic Surprises So Far". Around the Rings. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  17. "Freney named Australia's Paralympian of the Year". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  18. "Dreams come true at IPC World Championships". Swimming Australia News. 15 August 2013. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  19. "Twenty-seven medals for the Australian swim team in Montreal". Swimming Australia News. 19 August 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  20. "Maddison Elliott breaks world record at Commonwealth Games 2014 in swimming for Australia". 26 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  21. "Ellie's world record double in golden start for Dolphins in Glasgow". Swimming Australia News, 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015.
  22. "Six golds and one world record for Ukraine at Glasgow 2015". International Paralympic Committee News, 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  23. "Aussies unite for a nail biting bronze medal win in the men's relay". Swimming Australia News, 18 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  24. "Two world records for China, four more fall at Glasgow 2015". International Paralympic Committee8 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  25. "Seven golds in seven days for Dias at Glasgow 2015". International Paralympic Committee News, 19 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  26. "Bronte Campbell and Emily Seebohm share Swimmer of the Year Award". Swimming Australia News, 5 September 2015. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  27. "Cyclist, Western Sydney athletes dominate NSWIS Awards". New South Wales Institute of Sport. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  28. "Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay – 34 Points Final". Rio Paralympics Official Results. Rio Paralympics. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  29. "Maddison Elliott". Rio Paralympics Official site. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  30. Meehan, Michelle (27 March 2019). "It's been absolute hell': Paralympic champion Maddison Elliott reveals dark struggle". News.com.au. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  31. Besley, John (22 February 2016). "Curzon Hall hosts NSW Sports Awards". Northern District Times. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  32. "Swimming Australia Gala Dinner 2016". Swimming Australia website. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  33. "OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC STARS SCOOP MAJOR NSW INSTITUTE OF SPORT AWARDS Home / NSWIS News / Olympic and Paralympic stars scoop major NSW I". NSWIS website. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  34. Walsh, Scott (8 December 2016). "Dylan Alcott wins double at Australian Paralympic Awards". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
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