Todd Hodgetts is the strong man of the Australian Paralympic athletics team. Having first thrown a shot put as a child in his backyard, the Tasmanian realised his lifelong dream when he won gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

Having competed in field events for years, Todd’s dreams of one day competing at a Paralympic Games were put on hold when athletes with an intellectual disability were banned after cheating was exposed at the Sydney Games. Re-included for London across three sports, Todd’s Paralympic dreams were alive once again and in 2011 he moved from his home in Launceston to Canberra to commit to full-time training.

The move paid off with Todd setting a new F20 shot put world record of 16.09m at the 2012 Australian Championships. Now ranked number one in the world, Todd knew he had to break his own world record to secure the Paralympic gold. With a roar heard around the stadium, Todd threw a massive 16.29m and celebrated with a victory lap around the stadium, hugging everyone he found with an Australian flag.

To complement his throwing, Todd spent years as a weightlifter and looks to Australian Olympic gold medallist Dean Lukins for inspiration. He was the Tasmanian record holder in weightlifting in the Super Heavyweight division and also set an Australian Junior dead lift record of 267.5kg. Having given up weightlifting to focus on his athletics career, Todd spends most of his free time with friends and completing his certificate IV in fitness.

The Paralympic journey is not over for Todd, who has vowed to keep going and defend his title in Rio 2016. “I’m going to defend my title because I’m a champion. To be a legend you have to defend it twice and I’ll do anything to keep going.”