Eliza Ault-Connell

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Eliza Ault-Connell
Australian athlete Eliza Ault-Connell after the completion of her track program at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Personal information
Nationality Australia
Born (1981-09-19) 19 September 1981 (age 42)
Sydney, New South Wales
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Australia
World Para Athletics Championships
Silver medal – second place 2002 Lille 400m T54
Bronze medal – third place 2006 Assen 800m T54
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Dubai 800m T54
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Melbourne 800m T54
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gold Coast Marathon T54
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Victoria 800m Wheelchair
Olympic Games (demonstration sport)
2nd 2004 Athens Wheelchair racing

Eliza Ault-Connell, AM (née Stankovic; born 19 September 1981) is an Australian wheelchair racer, who competed at Paralympic and Olympic Games. She survived meningococcal disease and plays a major role in improving the Australian community's awareness of the disease.

Early life[edit]

Eliza Jane Ault-Connell was born in Sydney, New South Wales, on 19 September 1981. In 1997, at the age of 16, she nearly died from meningococcal disease.[1] She had both her legs amputated above the knees two days after contracting the disease. She said "Amputation wasn't a decision I had to make: I was in a coma at the time. Mum and Dad were told that's what had to be done to save my life, so in that sense there was no choice."[2] Later she had to make the decision to have most of the fingers on each hand removed. She was in hospital for six months and in 1998, she acquired prosthetic legs.[1]

She is the Director of Meningococcal Australia[3] and is involved in promoting the awareness of meningococcal disease in the Australian community.[4]

Athletics career[edit]

Before her illness, Ault-Connell excelled in netball and basketball. In 1998, she started running using her prosthetic legs and was classed T44 athlete.[1] However, she moved to wheelchair racing as a T54 athlete due to a problem with the bone in the stump.[1]

Ault-Connell's first major international competition was 2002 Commonwealth Games where she won the bronze medal in the Women's Wheelchair 800m.[5] At the 2002 IPC Athletics World Championships, she competed in three events and won a silver medal in the Women's 400m T54 event.[5] At the 2004 Olympic Games, she finished second in the demonstration sport of Women's 1500 m wheelchair and the Women's 800 m wheelchair.[6] She also participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics.[7] At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, she competed in five events and did not medal.[5] Ault-Connell won three consecutive Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race from 2004 to 2006.[8] She won a bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54 at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.[5] At the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships, she competed in three events and won a bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54.[5]

At the 2019 London Marathon which was also the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships marathon event, she finished fourth in the Women's T46.[9] At 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, she won the bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54.[10]

She was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours "for significant service to community health, and as a Paralympic athlete."[11]

3 wheelchair marathon racers during race on road
Australian athletes Christe Dawes and Eliza Ault-Connell on the marathon course at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

Ault-Connell competed at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics, her second Summer Paralympics,[12] In the T54 events she qualified for the finals and came 8th in the 100m and 7th in the 400m. and 13th in the Marathon.[13]

Family[edit]

Ault-Connell was previously married to gold medal-winning Australian Paralympic athlete Kieran Ault-Connell and they have two daughters and a son.[4][14][15]

Recognition[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Masters, Roy (29 August 2003). "Woman who turned tragedy into triumph". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ^ Heath, Sally (13 March 2006). "On a learning curve". The Age. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Here's what a meningococcal survivor wants you to know". Mamamia. 2 May 2016. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
  4. ^ a b O'Leary, Cathy (19 May 2014). "Survivor has story of hope". Western Australian. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Eliza Stankovic". Athletics Australia Historical Results. Archived from the original on 17 February 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Results - Athletics : 800m wheelchair". BBC. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Eliza Stankovic". Olympics Australia. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Eliza Stankovic - Australian of the Year". Australian of the Year Website. Archived from the original on 7 February 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Manuela Schaer makes it spectacular six in London". International Paralympic Committee website. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  10. ^ "World Para Athletics Championships Dubai - Day 6 Recap". Athletics Australia. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Queen's Birthday 2019 Honours List" (PDF). Governor General of Australia. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2019.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Para-athletics Stars Perris and Turner Secure Their Paralympic Passage to Tokyo". Paralympics Australia. 17 April 2021. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Athletics: AULT-CONNELL Eliza". Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  14. ^ Buckley, James (24 August 2021). "Super mum Eliza Ault-Connell returns to Paralympics after 17-year hiatus". The Canberra Times. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Kieran Ault-Connell - Athletics | Paralympic Athlete Profile".
  16. ^ a b c "Eliza Stankovic". Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Education Program website. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2015.

External links[edit]

External videos
video icon One Plus One: Eliza Ault-Connell, One Plus One, ABC News
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