Todd Hodgetts

Todd Hodgetts was born on 23 March 1988 in Launceston, Tasmania,[2] and grew up in the suburb of Newstead.[3][4][5] He lived in Tasmania until 2011, when he moved to Canberra to improve his chances of making the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[2][6] After the London Games, he relocated to Melbourne.[7] He is studying for a certificate IV in fitness as of 2012.[2]

He has an autism spectrum disorder.[8] Other sports in which he participates include weightlifting.[2]

Hodgetts at the 2012 London Paralympics

Nicknamed "The Hulk",[9][10] Hodgetts specialises in the shot put.[11][12] He competes in the F20 classification.[2][13] He is coached by Gus Puopolo.[9] He works with a gymnastics coach to help with his balance and conditioning.[13] He is a member of the Newstead Harriers.[4][12]

Hodgetts at the 2012 London Paralympics

Hodgetts started competing in athletics in shot put in 1998[2] after his brother brought home a shot put from high school and encouraged him to try it as kind of a joke.[13] 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.[12]

Hodgetts made his national team debut in 2005.[2] In 2008, he was the Australian champion in the shot put.[4] He competed at the 2009 Australian national athletics championships in Adelaide.[4] In 2009, at an Athletics South flagship interclub competition, he won the shot put with a distance of 15.43 m.[3] At the 2012 Tasmanian Track and Field Championships, he had a season's best throw of 16.04 m to win the event.[11] At the 2012 Australian Athletics Championships, he set a world record in the shot put.[2][14] At the 2012 London Paralympics, he won a gold medal in the Men's Shot Put F20 event.[15] After the Games, he underwent elbow surgery.[7]

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.[7] 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."[16]

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."[17]

At the 2015 Australian Uni Games, he would claim Gold in the Men's Shot Put, with a throw of 15.64m, competing for Victoria University.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20]

• 2015 – Athletics Australia Male Para-athlete of the Year.[21]
• 2015 – Tasmanian Athlete of the Year finalist.[22]
• 2016 - Victorian Institute of Sport William Angliss Personal Excellence Award[23]

• Todd Hodgetts at the Australian Paralympic Committee
• Todd Hodgetts at the International Paralympic Committee
• Todd Hodgetts at Australian Athletics Historical Results