Nationality Australia Name Eliza Ault-Connell | Role Olympic athlete | |
Born 19 September 1981 (age 42) ( 1981-09-19 ) Sydney, New South Wales | ||
A Grateful Mind. Interview with Eliza Ault Connell
Eliza Ault-Connell (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.
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Personal
She was born in Sydney, New South Wales on 19 September 1981. In 1997, at the age of 16, she nearly died from meningococcal disease. 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." 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.
She is married to Australian Paralympic athlete Kieran Ault-Connell and they have two daughters and a son. She is the Director of Meningococcal Australia and is involved in promoting the awareness of meningococcal disease in the Australian community.
Athletics Career
Before her illness, she excelled in netball and basketball. In 1998, she started running using her prosthetic legs and was classed T44 athlete. However, she was forced to move to wheelchair racing as a T54 athlete due to a problem with the bone in the stump.
Her first major international competition was 2002 Commonwealth Games where she won the bronze medal in the Women's Wheelchair 800m. At the 2002 IPC Athletics World Championships, she competed in three events and won a silver medal in the Women's 400m T54 event. 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. She also participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics. At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, she competed in five events and did not medal. She won a bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54 at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. At the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships, she competed in three events and won a bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54.
She won three consecutive Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race from 2004 to 2006.