Not many athletes can lay claim to a Paralympic gold medal and a world championship before their 20th birthday. Then again, there aren’t many athletes like Dylan Alcott.

Dylan achieved the rare feat when the then 19-year-old was part of the Australian wheelchair basketball team which secured the 2010 World Championship after famously winning gold at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

As the youngest member of the Rollers, it was almost hard to believe that his peak still seemingly lies ahead. The London 2012 Paralympic Games are now firmly in his sights.

Having only started playing basketball in 2003, Dylan first represented Australia at the 2006 Junior Nationals, where he was named the most valuable player. He believes the Beijing Games were the best experience of his life and feels lucky and privileged as a 17-year-old to be part of a world beating basketball team.

Dylan loves music, can sing and play the drums and is famous on YouTube for crowd surfing in his wheelchair at a Queens of the Stone Age concert. He is also an avid sports fan and a multi-talented one at that. Not only is he an international basketballer, but he is an accomplished tennis player and reached as high as number 4 in the junior world rankings.

After studying at the University of Illinois in the US where he trained and competed at the university’s extensive wheelchair basketball team program, Dylan has returned to Australia to resume his commerce studies at the University of Melbourne. While he has a lot on his plate, Dylan is looking forward to the challenges ahead.