Our third and final instalment, what better way to wrap up our Tokyo 2020 coverage with a homage to the great man and three-time Paralympic Gold medalist, D. Alcott.
Part 3: My man, Dyl
Those who are regular readers will be very familiar of my bromance with Dylan Alcott.
An incredible athlete, Dylan boasts Olympic Gold in TWO sports and more tennis grand slam trophies than I can count.
But it’s his feats away from the sporting world that has cemented his status as legendary human.
Dylan has played a pivotal role in raising the profile of our disability community by using his voice to champion for equality. At every opportunity he’s pushing for a ‘fair go’; for people with a disability to be seen and treated like everyone else.
So it’s CLASSIC Dyl to use his post-Gold medal winning interview to, once again, push the equality message. And boy, he got me good.
If you haven’t seen his emotional interview here it Wheelchair Tennis - Tokyo
After accepting his individual Tennis Golf Medal, Dylan was as raw and honest as I’ve ever seen someone. Normally a super articulate guy, at times he struggled to find the words thanks to the overwhelming emotion he was so obviously feeling. Admitting it was his last Paralympic Games, Dyl spoke of what the Games means to him as an individual and what it provides to the disability community.
It’s seven minutes worth of absolute gold. While I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it, some of my favourite lines are: “I’m so grateful that [I can] change perceptions along the way of what people think about us, about people with a disability. Not just as athletes, but hopefully changing perceptions beyond that.” “Not every person with a disability can be a Paralympian, but they can be a doctor, a lawyer, a mum, a dad, a teacher, an educator, a politician – whatever it is...”
“When I played my first [Australian] Open in 2014, there was about four people watching. Now it’s on prime time TV [and the] number one trend in Australia. I just didn’t think it would happen.”
“Previously you had to win every single thing you did just to get relevance; just to be compared to able bodied people. But now, we are worthy in our difference. We are worthy because we are disabled.”
“The reason you should watch – not just because we have inspirational stories – because we are elite and we are entertaining. We put on a show and people want to watch.”
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