Carol
Cooke

Two-time Paralympian Carol Cooke is one of the most motivating figures in Australian sport.

She first dreamed of representing her country as a 14-year-old Canadian national watching the Opening Ceremony of the Montréal 1976 Olympic Games. Over the next four years, she put everything she had into becoming the best swimmer she could be, but when Canada decided to boycott the Moscow 1980 Olympic Games, Carol’s dream was shattered. Or so she thought.

A little over three decades’ later, Carol made her Paralympic debut at the London 2012 Paralympic Games – for Australia, no less. By then, she had made the switch from swimming to Para-rowing to Para-cycling, and had never been more ready to take on the world. Carol competed in two events and won a gold medal in the mixed time trial T1-2.

Over the following four years, Carol took her career to new heights, and by the time the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games rolled around, she was the back-to-back-to-back world champion in the women’s individual time trial T2, and a two-time world champion in the women’s road race T2. As the odds-on favourite to win gold, Carol did not disappoint.

At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Carol made history to become Australia’s second oldest female Paralympic medallist at 60 years old. She took out the silver medal in the 16km women’s road time trial T1-2 event, pipped by Jana Majunke of Germany by 32 seconds.

Her Tokyo campaign came to a dramatic end when she suffered a severe crash during the 26km women’s road race T1-2. Wet conditions on the Fuji Speedway were to blame, with Canada’s Marie-Eve Croteau losing control on a slippery manhole cover, with the rider behind her, Jana Majunke of Germany, hitting the brakes forcing Carol to collide with a Majunke’s bike. She crashed heavily – sustaining a collapsed left lung and was hospitalised as a result. It was the first time in her decorated career that she was unable to finish a race.