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Carol Cooke

2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Cooke
Personal information
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1961-08-06) 6 August 1961 (age 63) Toronto, Canada
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Cycling
Club	Carnegie Caulfield CC
Medal record Cycling Paralympic Games 2012 London Mixed Time Trial T1–2

Carol Cooke (born 6 August 1961) is a Canadian-born Australian cyclist, swimmer and rower. A keen swimmer, she was part of the Canadian national swimming team and almost made it to the 1980 Moscow Olympics before her country boycotted the games. She moved to Australia in 1994, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, and took up rowing in 2006, in which she narrowly missed out on being part of the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She then switched to cycling, where she won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics.

Personal

Cooke was born on 6 August 1961 in Toronto, Canada. She worked with the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force for 14 years, following in the footsteps of her family, and spent some time working with the undercover drug squad. She moved to Australia, where she met and married her husband, in 1994 and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, just before her 37th birthday. She is an ambassador for those dealing with the disease. In this role, she founded the 24 Hour Mega Swim, a relay swimming event that raises money for multiple sclerosis research. As of 2012, she works as a motivational speaker and event planner and lives in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.

Sports career

Cooke is a keen swimmer, and made the Canadian team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics; however, Canada joined the boycott at the games, so she did not compete. She then took up triathlon, coming fifth in her first competition, the 1985 World Police and Fire Games. She participated in several masters' tournaments in swimming, winning five medals (four gold and a silver) at the 2005 World Masters Games.

She subsequently attended a talent search day run by the Victorian Institute of Sport in December 2005, where it was recommended that she take up rowing; she began training for the sport in June 2006. Her [[coxed four team missed out on a position at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics by 0.8 seconds in the qualifying World Cup tournament in Munich. She also came sixth at the 2009 World Rowing Championships.

She then took up cycling, buying a tricycle "on a whim", and won both the trial and road racing events at the 2011 Australian Para-Cycling Road Championships. She won gold medals in both the road race and road trial competitions at the 2011 Para-cycling Road World Cup in Australia, silver medals in the same events at that year's UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Denmark, and a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics in the Mixed Time Trial T1–2 event. Classified as a T2 cyclist, she is coached by Helen Kelly, receives a scholarship from the Victorian Institute of Sport, and is a member of Carnegie Caulfield CC.

Recognition

Cooke was named the 2006 Victorian Masters' Athlete of the Year by the Victorian Institute of Sport. She was added to the lists of Who's Who of Australian Women and Victorians in 2008 and Who's Who of Australian Women in 2010. She received a Pride of Australia Medal in 2006 in the "role model" category, received the 2009 John Studdy Award from MS Australia, and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in 2009. In 2011, she received a commendation in the Minister for Health Volunteer Awards.

References

1. ^ "Carol Cooke". Cycling Australia. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
2. ^ "Carol Cooke". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
3. ^ "Carol Cooke". MS Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
4. ^ Paproth, Daniel (20 August 2012). "Triple quest for Northcote paralympian". Melbourne Times Weekly. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
5. "You're never too old to try". Vol. 63, no. 36. Woman's Day. 9 March 2012. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
6. "What it is". 24 Hour Mega Swim. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
7. "Carol Cooke, rower and aspiring paralympian". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 March 2010. Event occurs at 16:14–17:09. Retrieved 3 November 2012. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
8. ^ Cooke, Carol (16 April 2008). "In the Beginning". The Road to Beijing. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
9. "Carol Cooke, rower and aspiring paralympian". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 March 2010. Event occurs at 33:52–34:35. Retrieved 3 November 2012. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help)
10. Carol Cooke at the International Paralympic Committee . Retrieved 5 October 2012.
11. "Victorian Athletes Selected for London Olympics and Paralympics". VicSport. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
12. "2006 Victorian Sport Awards". Victorian Institute of Sport. Retrieved 4 November 2012.

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• Paralympic cyclists of Australia
• Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
• Paralympic gold medalists for Australia
• Les Autres category Paralympic competitors
• People with multiple sclerosis
• Canadian emigrants to Australia
• Sportspeople from Toronto
• Sportswomen from Melbourne
• Victorian Institute of Sport alumni
• 1961 births
• Living people