Biography
Not many people can lay claim to being a Paralympic gold medallist and world champion whilst still being in their teenage years. Then again, there aren’t many people like Dylan Alcott.
Dylan, a dual sport athlete, has represented Australia on the international stage in both wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis since the age of 13.
In 2008, at the age of 17, Dylan was a member of the Australian wheelchair basketball team, The Rollers, won gold medal victory at the 2008 Paralympic games in Beijing. Dylan became the youngest ever wheelchair basketball gold medallist in history. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics Dylan won gold in both the singles and doubles tennis making him one of an elite few to have won Olympic gold in two different sports at two separate Olympics.
Dylan was born with a rare type of tumour wrapped around his spinal cord, which required immediate surgery only weeks after birth. After a three-year battle for his life, Dylan defied the odds and through sheer determination and hard work, he has been able to strive to become one of Australia’s best and widely recognised Paralympians.
One of Dylan’s greatest achievements was being inducted as a member of the Order of Australia in 2009 at the age of 18. From there, Dylan and The Rollers followed up their win in Beijing with victory at the 2010 FIBA World Championships, becoming the first Australian basketball team to ever win the title. At the tournament, he was selected in the World All Star 5, making him the best player in his position in the world. In 2012, he returned from the London Paralympic Games with a silver medal.
In 2013, Dylan re-launched his tennis career, and was granted a wild card into the 2014 Australian Open, reaching the semi-final. After only 18 months into his comeback, Dylan won his first ever grand slam title, The Australian Open, and is currently ranked number one in the world.
Dylan has made sports history in 2016, as the first wheelchair athlete to win the Newcombe Medal, the highest individual award in Australian tennis. Dylan won Gold in both the singles and doubles tennis at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, was the winner of the 2016 Australian Open and awarded the winner of the 2016 GQ Sportsman of the Year. For the third year running, Dylan won the 2018 Australian Open quad wheelchair title and he has won 4 grand slam singles titles to date, including the last 4 Australian Open titles.
Dylan’s achievements are not only restricted to the sporting field. In 2017, Dylan created the Dylan Alcott Foundation, a foundation to help young people who are struggling to come to terms with their disabilities. The foundation aims to improve quality of life through mentoring, scholarships and grants which assists individuals to be involved in education and sport. Dylan is also an entrepreneur, and is the co-founder of Get Skilled Access, a training provider educating corporates and governments on how to better understand and treat customers with disabilities. He was also nominated for 2017 Young Australian of the Year.
Dylan is a keen philanthropist, and broke the world record playing wheelchair tennis for 24 consecutive hours non-stop, setting the new world record and raising an incredible $100,000 for two charities.
Dylan’s true passion is his work as a motivational speaker, and through his inspirational storytelling, he is continually trying to alter and change the way people with disabilities are perceived in the wider community. He works as a keynote corporate speaker, bringing disability awareness to schools. He also works extensively in the Australian media landscape, currently hosting on Triple J Radio, and he regularly makes appearances on Channel Ten’s The Project and Channel 7 Sports.
In 2018, Dylan published his autobiography, Able - Gold Medals, Grand Slams and Smashing Glass Ceilings.
Testimonials
We knew Dylan would help us deliver our message being an advocate for disability awareness and education (that's why we chose him) but he totally exceeded our expectations. From the very beginning, Dylan had the full attention of every guest as he took us on a journey that was funny, sad, funny, educational, funny, heartfelt and funny. We went from the locker room at the Australian Open to the Intensive Care Unit at a Melbourne hospital. It was a powerful story that left the audience feeling empowered – to do more to support and normalise disabilities in our community.
Tourism Geelong Ballarine
Dylan was brilliant! Charming, friendly, down to earth, engaging, thought provoking and funny. Willing to give his time and answer questions with honesty and authenticity. Fantastic audience engagement. He was the definite highlight of the day and I have heard nothing but excellent feedback.
Wine Australia
Our Summit theme was ‘Inspiring Change’ and certainly Dylan inspires change and has made changes himself that are inspiring.
Australasian Association of Convenience Stores
Dylan delivered a highly engaging, funny and powerful presentation to our staff on “becoming the best version of yourself”. He spoke about breaking down the stigma of people with disabilities with stories of his childhood, the road to his Paralympic success, his professional achievements and shared some funny sports anecdotes. He passed around his gold medals and stayed for some photos at the end of the presentation. He is truly an inspirational athlete, TV and Radio personality and entrepreneur.
National Archives of Australia
Dylan gave a fantastic presentation and really hit the mark for the theme of the conference which was a ‘good life for all Victorians’. His presentation was extremely engaging and funny as he talked about the challenges of low expectations for people with disability, and patronising community attitudes.
His leadership and passion to overcome these attitudes through his activities eg. Get Skilled Access and the Dylan Alcott Foundation shone through. We had a number of people with lived experience of disability in the audience, and they asked questions of Dylan which was great. His messages were important for the community sector to hear in their aspirations of diverse and inclusive leadership.
Dylan’s presentation ended our conference on a high, and we have had many people say to us what a fantastic and positive way to end the conference. From the event feedback received, it’s clear he was the highlight of the day for many people.
Thank you Dylan. We would love to work with you again in the future.
Victorian Council of Social Service
A standing ovation, what more could we ask for? We are a purpose-driven organisation, and Dylan spoke with nothing but purpose. He really brought the house down.
Intrepid Group
Excellent. Dylan was able to work a very diverse crowd and engage with both students, staff and councillors. His language was great and did not overwhelm. His down to earth nature put people at ease, and his openness to any form of questioning was refreshing for many people who may not have had a lot of contact with people who have a disability. I would recommend Dylan in a heartbeat.
Wyndham City Council
Dylan was without doubt the best Keynote we have used. I have lost count of how many Members came up to me after the AGM and commented on how good Dylan was. He relates to the audience, he has humility, and he is a great guy.
Master Locksmiths Association of Australasia
Dylan is just himself which in itself is very refreshing, and has the ability to share his story without wanting sympathy for his great life.
Municipal Works Operations Association
Dylan was engaging, amusing and inspiring.
Conversant
Best ever
Prime Electrical Data
The team were literally moved by Dylan. His likeable, down to earth attitude, and his story was both interesting and motivating.
Workwear Group
Feedback on Dylan’s session has been phenomenal. The perfect blend of humour, realism and inspiration to be the best version of yourself. Dylan really struck a chord with our audience and people are still talking about it!
Employsure
Dylan captured the audience’s attention from the beginning of his story. He was a great mix of funny and serious. All our attendees felt so special to hear his journey and talk to him afterwards.
Master Builders Association ACT
Dylan provided one of the most powerful, entertaining, thought provoking and engaging presentations our group has seen. Never have I received so many positive comments from a group than I did about Dylan – a truly inspiring man!
Tyrepower
Dylan was incredibly inspiring and we couldn’t have chosen a better speaker to finish our one-year program. He really dedicated his time and effort to give a great presentation. He was open to answer all the questions from the group, take photos – an amazingly humble and talented guy.
Destination Melbourne
His presentation was very motivational and inspires us to be better.
National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA)
Dylan was the perfect fit for our conference! He is such a confident and relaxed speaker, and completely hassle free to work with. I would definitely put Dylan forward to future clients.
Grace Cordy, cievents
Dylan was very down to earth, engaging and funny! Overall inspirational!
cievents
Dylan was a very engaging presenter with a very powerful message. He developed an instant connection with our students and gave many personal accounts of his life and cleverly connected this in a way that our students could relate to.
Trinity Grammar School
Very motivating
Frankston Toyota
Really engaging, easy going, great performance/talk. Really good at connecting with a large audience.
Chisholm Institute
Dylan was a fabulous way to end our conference with a bang! He was dynamic and very engaging, refreshingly open with sharing his story. The highlight of our event, we loved every minute!
Dimple
Dylan was fantastic, we hope to have him along again.
NAB
Great speaker, very engaging and funny. Client said he was very down to earth, engaging and funny! Overall inspirational!
Blacktown Venue Management
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