Carol Cooke

Carol Lynn Cooke, AM (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 was hoping to be selected for 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 and two gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.

Carol Cooke

2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Cooke
Personal information
Full name	Carol Lynn Cooke
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1961-08-06) 6 August 1961 Toronto, Canada
Residence	Northcote, Victoria
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Cycling
Disability	Multiple sclerosis
Disability class	T2
Club	St. Kilda CC
Medal record Cycling Paralympic Games 2012 London Mixed Time Trial T1–2 2016 Rio Women's Time Trial T1–2 2016 Rio Women's Road Race T1–2 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships 2011 Roskilde Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2011 Roskilde Women's Road Race T2 2013 Baie-Comeau Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2013 Baie-Comeau Women's Road Race T2 2014 Grenville Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2014 Grenville Women's Road Race T2 2015 Nottwil Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2015 Nottwil Women's Road Race T2 2017 Pietermaritzburg Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2017 Pietermaritzburg Women's Road Race T2 2018 Maniago Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2018 Maniago Women's Road Race T2 2019 Emmen Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2019 Emmen Women's Road Race T2

Personal

Carol Lynn Cooke was born on 6 August 1961 in Toronto, Canada.[1][2] 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.[3] She met and married her husband, then moved to Australia in 1994.[4] Cooke was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, just before her 37th birthday.[5][6] She is an ambassador for those dealing with the disease. In this role, she founded the 24 Hour Mega Swim which is a relay swimming event that raises money for people with multiple sclerosis.[3][7] As of 2012, she works as a motivational speaker and event planner and lives in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.[1][2]

Sports career

Cooke at the 2012 London Paralympics

Cooke is a keen swimmer, and was hoping to make the Canadian team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but she did not compete because Canada joined the boycott of the games.[5] She then took up triathlon, coming fifth in her first competition, the 1985 World Police and Fire Games.[8] She participated in several masters' tournaments in swimming, winning five medals (four gold and a silver) in the Athletes With Disability Division at the 2005 World Masters Games.[9] In 2006, at the age of 44, she qualified for the Telstra Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials; she reached the finals of the 50 m breaststroke multi-disability event.[10]

She 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.[9] 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.[5][11] She also came sixth at the 2009 World Rowing Championships.[2]

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.[5] She won gold medals in both the road race and road trial competitions at the 2011 Para-cycling Road World Cup in Australia,[1] silver medals in the same events at that year's UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Denmark,[1] and a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympics in the Mixed Time Trial T1–2 event.[12] Classified as a T2 cyclist, she is coached by Rebecca McConnell, receives a scholarship from the Victorian Institute of Sport, and is a member of St. Kilda CC.[1][13][14]

Competing at the 2013 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Baie-Comeau, Canada, she won two gold medals in the Women's Individual Time Trial T2 and Women's Road Race T2.[15] Cooke successfully defended the titles at the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Greenville, South Carolina.[16]

In 2015, at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, she won a gold medal in the Women's Time Trial T2 and a silver medal in the Women's Road Race T2.[17][18]

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won gold medals in the Women's Time Trial T1–2 and Women's Road Race T1–2.[19]

Cooke won two gold medals in the Women's Time Trial T2 and Women's Road Race T2 at the 2017 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.[20]

At the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Maniago, Italy, she won the silver medals in the Women's Time Trial T2 and Women's Road Race T2.[21]

A the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, in Emmen, Netherlands, she won gold medals in the Women's Time Trial T2 and Women's Road Race T2.[22]

Recognition

Cooke was named the 2006 Victorian Masters' Athlete of the Year by the Victorian Institute of Sport.[23] 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.[1] 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.[1] In 2011, she received a commendation in the Minister for Health Volunteer Awards.[1] In November 2013, she was named Cycling Australia's Elite Female Para-Cyclist of the Year.[24] She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "For significant service to sport as a gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and through fundraising and representational roles with charitable healthcare organisations."[25] She was awarded Cycling Australia's Female Elite Para-Cyclist in 2015, 2016 and 2017.[26][27][28] In 2017, Cooke was awarded the Victorian Disability Sport and Recreation Masters Sportsperson of the Year [29] and the Victorian Institute of Sport's top award – VIS Award of Excellence.[30] In 2019, Cooke was awarded Cycling Australia's Para Female Road Cyclist of the Year.[31]

References

1. "Carol Cooke". Cycling Australia. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
2. "Carol Cooke". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
3. "Carol Cooke". MS Australia. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
4. Cooke, Carol. "About Carol / Carol Cooke". Carol Cooke. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
5. Paproth, Daniel (20 August 2012). "Triple quest for Northcote paralympian". Melbourne Times Weekly. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
6. "You're never too old to try". 63 (36). Woman's Day. 9 March 2012. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. "What it is". 24 Hour Mega Swim. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
8. Compton, Leon; Tetlow, Miranda (29 March 2010). "Carol Cooke, rower and aspiring paralympian". Guestroom. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Event occurs at 16:14–17:09. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
9. Cooke, Carol (16 April 2008). "In the Beginning". The Road to Beijing. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
10. "Carol Cooke – Paralympic Gold Medalist" (PDF). Retrieved 16 January 2013.
11. Compton, Leon; Tetlow, Miranda (29 March 2010). "Carol Cooke, rower and aspiring paralympian". Guestroom. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Event occurs at 33:52–34:35. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
12. Results for Carol Cooke from the International Paralympic Committee (archived). Retrieved 5 October 2012.
13. Cooke, Carol. "Carol's Coaches". Retrieved 17 October 2014.
14. Cooke, Carol (16 July 2014). "Sharing the Road". Retrieved 17 October 2014.
15. "Para-cyling Road World Championships – Results". UCI Website. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
16. "Eight medals for Australia at Para-cycling Road World Championships". Cycling Australia News. 2 September 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
17. "Cooke and Bridgwood claim gold at UCI Para-cycling World Championships". Cycling Australia News. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
18. "Alistair Donohue defends world title at Para-cycling Road Worlds". Cycling Australia News. 2 August 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
19. "Carol Cooke". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
20. "Cooke plates up double serving of rainbows in South Africa". Cycling Australia website. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
21. "2018 UCI Para-cycling World Championships". UCI website. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
22. "2019 UXU Para Cycling Road World Championships Results". VotreCourse. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
23. "2006 Victorian Sport Awards". Victorian Institute of Sport. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
24. "Caroline Buchanan awarded Opie medal". Cycling Australia News. 8 November 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
25. "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". Daily Telegraph. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
26. "#OppyMedal – Elite Cyclists of the Year crowned". Cycling Australia. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
27. "#OPPYMEDAL MATHEW HAYMAN CROWNED 2016 AUSTRALIAN CYCLIST OF THE YEAR". Cycling Australia website. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
28. Polkinghorne, David (17 November 2017). "Tour de France star Michael Matthews wins triple crown at Cycling Australia awards". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
29. "Winners announced for Victorian Disability Sport and Recreation Awards". Disability Sport & Recreation Victoria. 18 August 2017. Archived from the original on 8 December 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
30. "Cooke earns Top Award". Victorian Institute of Sport. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
31. "Caleb Ewan awarded 'Oppy' as 2019 Cyclist of the Year". Cycling Australia. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.

External links

• Australian Paralympic Committee profile
• Cycling Australia profile
• Personal website