Hannah Dodd

In her previous sporting life, Hannah Dodd was an elite equestrian rider, the top-ranked Australian in her event and class. In 2012 she competed at the London Games and finished just outside the top 10 in each of her two events. Fast forward a few years and Dodd is set for her first Games as a member of the Australian Gliders women’s wheelchair basketball side.

Hannah was born with sacral agenesis and spina bifida with upper limb dystonia and learnt to ride a horse before she could walk. She started competing in 2005 and was representing Australia by the next year. Her distinguished equestrian career ended when she decided to take up basketball, in which she made similarly rapid progress.

Hannah made her Gliders debut at the Osaka Cup in early 2015 and, later that year, won silver with The Devils women’s national U25s side at the World Championships.

While the Gliders missed out on qualifying for Rio 2016, the team’s nine-year Paralympic absence came to an end when they made their return in Tokyo 2020. The Aussie side ended their Paralympic crusade in ninth position, finishing their campaign with a win against Algeria in the ninth-tenth playoff match.