Hannah Dodd

Hannah Dodd was born on 27 April 1992,[1] and is from Arcadia, New South Wales.[2] She has sacral agenesis and spina bifida with upper limb dystonia,[3][4] and is missing four vertebrae in her back.[3] When she was about a year old, her kidneys started failing.[3] Her entire renal system needed to be reconstructed.[5] She has two older brothers.[2][4] She can walk with the aide of a caliper, and also uses a wheelchair. As of 2012, she is a horse riding teacher and student at the University of Western Sydney where she is majoring in sports and exercise science.[2][4]

Dodd is a Grade IV equestrian competitor,[2][4] coached by Peter Turner.[2] Due to her sacral agenesis, when she rides her horse, she dislocates several bones every time,[3][4] but as a result of anti-doping rules, she has had to find alternative ways of coping with pain associated with riding.[4]

Dodd riding at the 2012 London Paralympics

Dodd has been around horses since she was four months old,[2] and was able to ride on her own by the time she was two years old, before she learned to walk.[2] The sport gave her a degree of independence.[4] She started competing in 2005, and first represented Australia in 2006,[2] winning her first test in England that year.[6] In 2008, she became the youngest-ever winner of the Australian national championships.[6] She finished first at the March 2009 inter-schools cup at the St Ives Showground,[7] and second at the 2009 Australian national championships,[2] but her horse, Lucifer's Dream, was injured in 2009.[7] In 2009 and 2010, she searched for another horse to assist her in getting through Paralympic qualification.[7][8] She won the Australian national championships again in 2011, along with the Oceania Championships and the National Titles team events.[2] By 2012, she was the top-ranked Australian competitor in her event and class.[4]

Dodd was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London in equestrian events with her horse Waikiwi.[2][9][10] These Games were her first,[2] and she was the youngest Australian equestrian competitor. A fund raiser was organised by Arcadia, New South Wales, residents.[9] While her own costs and the cost of her horse were covered by Australian Paralympic Committee and Equestrian Australia, funds were required for her coach.[9] She was placed 12th in the Individual Championship Test – Grade IV, and 11th in the Individual Freestyle Test – Grade IV and Team Test – Grade IV.[11]

After the London Paralympics, Dodd took up wheelchair basketball. She started for the Sydney University Flames in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League in 2013. She has to strap her fingers and wrists, and usually dislocates a shoulder during a game. "I've had a few bangs and scrapes and been tipped out of my chair a few times," she concedes, "but it's really fun. The fast pace really gives you an adrenalin kick and the girls I play with are awesome."[12] "If I have chose between my two sports for Rio," she said, "I will go with basketball."[5]

Dodd made her debut with the national team, known as the Gliders, at the Osaka Cup in Osaka in February 2015.[13] The Gliders won bronze.[14] In June 2015, Dodd was selected as part of the under 25 team (known as the Devils) for the 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Beijing in July.[5] The Devils won silver.[15] By this time her health had deteriorated. She had to use a wheelchair much of the time, and her classification had dropped to a 2.5 point player.[5] In 2015, she was reclassified a 2.0,[16] and in June 2017, as a 1.0.[17]

• Hannah Dodd – Para-Equestrian on YouTube