Madeline
Hogan

Three-time Paralympian Madeleine Hogan was a feature of international Para-athletics competitions for nearly a decade.

She first represented Australia as a 19-year-old at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. Holding her own in the field of 12, she beat her personal best by a little under four metres to win the Australian Para-athletics team’s first medal of the Games, a bronze in the women’s javelin F42-46.

Over the next three years, Madeleine worked tirelessly with five-time Paralympian John Eden to improve her strength and technique, culminating in winning the women’s javelin F46 world title at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. She did not know it at the time, but in two cruel twists of fate, those World Championships would be her last.

Madeleine won a bronze medal in the women’s javelin F46 at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, but the four years that followed were plagued by injury. She missed the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, and six days before the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar, she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.

She considered retiring, but ultimately decided she wanted to try to achieve selection to a third Paralympic Team. Madeleine is nothing if not determined, and posted a ‘B’ qualifying standard just two months out from the cut-off date for qualification for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, where she placed fifth in the women’s javelin F46.

Madeleine announced her retirement from Para-athletics in May 2017.