Paralympian Dylan Alcott has made the painful admission that he used to struggle with his body image and revealed that turning to sports saved his life.
The Australian wheelchair sports champion, 33, appears on the cover of the upcoming Men’s Health Australia and told the publication he was bullied as a child for being disabled and found his outlet in sport.
‘I’ve always loved sport, but I couldn’t really access it as a kid. What really saved my life was finding Paralympic sport,’ Dylan began.
‘Not just the physical and the mental health benefits I got, but finding my community – other people with disability who were thriving.’
The Melbourne-born athlete added he wished he had seen people with disabilities competing in sport when he was a child, as it would have greatly improved his morale.
‘I never saw anybody like me doing anything like this. That would have been life-changing for me when I was really struggling with my own self-worth and my body image. It would’ve been incredible.’
Dylan revealed by getting involved in wheelchair sports he found a new sense of purpose, which gave him an improved life outlook.
‘It made me feel free. Free of my own lack of self-worth, free of getting bullied. I was out there having a crack. It was just amazing.’
Paralympian Dylan Alcott (pictured) made the painful admission on Saturday that he used to struggle with his body image and revealed that turning to sports saved his life
Alcott famously won a gold medal with the Australian wheelchair basketball team, the Rollers, at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games and took home a silver medal at the 2012 London Games.
He retired after the January 2022 Australian Open and has turned to commentating at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Elsewhere, the esteemed Paralympian recently struck a deal to create a fiction series for middle-school-aged kids to celebrate and normalise disability, difference and inclusion.
Alcott was born with a tumour wrapped around his spinal cord, which resulted in him becoming a paraplegic after surgery to remove it.
The Australian wheelchair sports champion, 33, appears on the cover of the upcoming Men’s Health Australia and told the publication he was bullied as a child for being disabled and found his outlet in sport
During his career as a wheelchair tennis and basketball player, he won multiple Grand Slam titles and gold medals in the Paralympics.
Alcott’s remarkable career also includes achieving a Golden Slam in 2021, winning all four major titles and the Paralympic gold medal in the same year.
In 2022, Alcott was named Australian of the Year and was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
Dylan revealed by getting involved in wheelchair sports he found a new sense of purpose, which gave him an improved life outlook
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