Upwey
By Tania Martin
MADELEINE Hogan is living proof that anything is possible.
Despite being born without a left hand, the 19-year-old Ferntree Gully woman has just returned from her first Paralympics in Beijing with a bronze medal in tow.
But for Madeleine winning bronze was a shock.
She went to Beijing hoping to record a personal best but never expected to be in medal contention.
“I didn’t go expecting to win … to do that was amazing,” Madeleine said.
But she did better than that, not only did she beat her personal best by a massive three metres, but surpassed the world record with her 38.89 metre throw.
It’s hard to imagine, but Madeleine picked up the javelin just three and a half years ago.
She has always been good at sports, from cricket to athletics and now javelin.
Madeleine visited St Thomas More Primary School in Belgrave last week to show off her prized bronze medal.
She showed the students that despite her disability, she is no different to anyone else.
In the lead-up to the Paralympics, Madeleine trained nine to 10 sessions a week, including running, weight training and throwing.
She said the key to a good javelin throw was speed.
“It’s really important to get the right speed and a good run-up,” she said.
Prosthetics specialist Kevin Harrison of Upwey also visited the school to show off some arms and legs that could be used to help athletes such as Madeleine.
Mr Harrison met Madeleine just before the Beijing Games to help her with prosthesis.
He was also contracted by the Chinese Government as one of 40 prosthetic technicians to service all the athletes during the Paralympics.
“We had to repair any limbs during the 10 days … it was a great experience,” Mr Harrison said.
“We were like a pit crew changing over prosthetics or fixing them.”
Mr Harrison said it was amazing to be able to give athletes new limbs when they ordinarily wouldn’t have been able to afford it.
“There was one athlete from Madagascar and we were able to give him a new leg free of charge,” he said.
“His old leg was third-hand and the new one would have cost him at least three years of wages … it was amazing to help someone like that.”
