O'Hanlon crosses the line to win gold in the Men's 100m - T38 Final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
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Silver medalist Dyan Buis of South Africa, Gold medalist Evan O'Hanlon of Australia and bronze medalist Wenjun Zhou of China pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's 100m - T38 at the Paralympics in London
© • Getty Images
O’Hanlon is one of the fastest Paralympians on the planet and also one of the most amusing, especially when it comes to his Twitter account.
Born with cerebral palsy in May 1988, O’Hanlon’s parents and sisters were all involved in elite rowing, whilst during his school years the likeable Australian enjoyed a brief rugby playing career
However, regular knocks to the head meant a doctor called time on his oval-balled career, and in a matter of years he was transformed from flying wingman to world class sprinter.
He first made a name for himself at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships in the Netherlands when he won 200m bronze (23.44) and was part of the gold medal winning relay teams in the 4x100m T35-38 (46.18) and 4x400m T35-38 (3:44.34).
Two years later he was one of the golden boys of the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, winning three gold medals in three new world-record times.
In the 100m he became the first athlete with cerebral palsy to run under 11 seconds (10.96) and days later smashed the 200m world record running 21.96 seconds, the first time a cerebral palsy athlete had broken the 22 second barrier.
So exhausted was he following his 200m success that he nearly missed his medal ceremony due to sickness. While officials wanted to send him to hospital, O’Hanlon found just enough energy to stand top of the podium for a second time.
Days later he had fully recovered and was part of the relay team that smashed the 4x100m T35-38 world record (44.81) to take gold.
At the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand, O’Hanlon took gold in the 100m (11.14) and 200m (22.31), 400m silver (49.72) and 4x100m T35-38 bronze (46.07).
Heading into London 2012 O’Hanlon was in blistering form frequently breaking his own world record whilst keeping his Twitter followers highly amused with a different quirky fact each day counting down to the Paralympics.
In London he successfully did the double double retaining both the 100m and 200m titles he had won in Beijing in world record times.
He ran a blistering 10.79 to take 100m gold, whilst one week later he stormed to 200m gold in 21.82 seconds.
O’Hanlon’s aim now is to overtake Ireland’s visually impaired sprinter Jason Smyth as the world’s fastest Paralympian.
