Carol Lynn 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 was hoping to be selected for the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

before her country boycotted the games. She moved to Australia in 1994, was diagnosed with

multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

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, two gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics and a silver medal at the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

Personal

Carol Lynn Cooke was born on 6 August 1961 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. She worked with the

Metropolitan Toronto Police Force The Toronto Police Service (TPS) is a municipal police force in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the primary agency responsible for providing law enforcement and policing services in Toronto. Established in 1834, it was the first local police se ...

for 14 years, following in the footsteps of her family, and spent some time working with the

undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

drug squad. She met and married her husband, then moved to Australia in 1994. Cooke was diagnosed with

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 which is a relay swimming event that raises money for people with multiple sclerosis. By the time she stepped down 21 years on, Mega Swim and grown into Mega Challenges and raised over $11 million. She works as a motivational speaker and event planner and lives in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.

Sports career

060912 - Carol Cooke - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics

Cooke is a keen swimmer, and was hoping to make the Canadian team for the

, but she did not compete because Canada joined the boycott of the games. She then took up

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

, coming fifth in her first competition, the 1985

World Police and Fire Games The World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) is a biennial athletic event, open to active and retired law enforcement and fire service personnel throughout the world. The WPFG Federation is an arm of the California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF), ...

. 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 The World Masters Games is an international multi-sport event held every four years which, in terms of competitor numbers, has developed into the largest of its kind. Governed by the International Masters Games Association (IMGA), the World Mas ...

. In 2006, at the age of 44, she qualified for the Telstra Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials; she reached the finals of the 50m breaststroke multi-disability event. She attended a talent search day run by the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

in December 2005, where it was recommended that she take up rowing; she began training for the sport in June 2006. Her

coxed four A coxed four, abbreviated as a 4+, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one ...

team missed out on a position at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics by 0.8 seconds in the qualifying World Cup tournament in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. She also came sixth at the

2009 World Rowing Championships The 2009 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 23 to 30 August 2009 at Lake Malta, Poznań, Poland. The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation), and hel ...

. 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

Rebecca Henderson Rebecca Henderson (born June 4, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her portrayal of Lizzy on the Netflix series ''Russian Doll (TV series), Russian Doll'' and for her roles in independent films ''Appropriate Behavior'', ''They Remain ...

, receives a scholarship from the Victorian Institute of Sport, and is a member of St. Kilda CC. Competing at the 2013

UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships The UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships are the world championships for road cycling where athletes with a physical disability compete, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The Championships were earlier administered by the ...

Baie-Comeau Baie-Comeau () is a city in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River, and is the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. It is near the mouth of the Manicouagan Ri ...

, Canada, she won two gold medals in the Women's Individual Time Trial T2 and Women's Road Race T2. Cooke successfully defended the titles at the 2014

in Greenville, South Carolina. In 2015, at the

Nottwil Nottwil is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. History Nottwil is first mentioned around 1217-22 as ''Nottewile''. In 1275 it was mentioned as ''Otewile''. Nottwil is also the location where the ...

, Switzerland, she won a gold medal in the Women's Time Trial T2 and a silver medal in the Women's Road Race T2. At the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

, she won gold medals in the Women's Time Trial T1–2 and Women's Road Race T1–2. 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 Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. At the 2018 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in

Maniago Maniago () is a town and (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone, in the Friuli subregion of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, north-eastern Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, ...

, Italy, she won the silver medals in the Women's Time Trial T2 and Women's Road Race T2. At the 2019

, in Emmen, Netherlands, she won gold medals in the Women's Time Trial T2 and Women's Road Race T2. At the

, Cooke won the silver medal in the Women's Road Time Trial T1–2 with a time of 36:38.46, less than 32 seconds behind the winner, Jana Majunke of Germany. She did not finish the Women's Road Race T1–2 due to having a serious crash. She was hospitalised with a punctured lung and was unable to depart Tokyo with the main Australian team. Cooke won the silver medal in the Women's Time Trial T2 and did not finish the Women's Road Race T2 at the 2022 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in

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 Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

in 2009. In 2011, she received a commendation in the Minister for Health Volunteer Awards. In November 2013, she was named

Cycling Australia Cycling Australia (CA), the trading name of the Australian Cycling Federation Inc, was the national governing body for bicycle racing in Australia, and represented the interests of affiliated cycling clubs and State federations. It covered the d ...

's Elite Female Para-Cyclist of the Year. She was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

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." She was awarded

's Female Elite Para-Cyclist in 2015, 2016 and 2017. In 2017, Cooke was awarded the Victorian Disability Sport and Recreation Masters Sportsperson of the Year and the

's top award – VIS Award of Excellence. In 2019 and 2022, Cooke was awarded

's Para Female Road Cyclist of the Year. Cooke has written several books. ''Cycle of life: a gold medal paralympian's secrets to success'' was published in 2015, updated in 2017 as ''Finding your inner gold'', 2017, and ''The Force Within'' in July 2021.

References

External links

* *
Carol Cooke
at

(archived)
Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Carol 1961 births Australian female cyclists Canadian emigrants to Australia Canadian women police officers Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Cyclists from Melbourne Les Autres-category Paralympic competitors Living people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Members of the Order of Australia Paralympic cyclists for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in cycling People with multiple sclerosis Cyclists from Toronto Swimmers from Toronto Rowers from Toronto Sportswomen from Victoria (state) Toronto police officers Victorian Institute of Sport alumni 20th-century Australian sportswomen 21st-century Australian sportswomen