Eliza Stankovic-Mowle (née Ault-Connell; born 19 September 1981) is an Australian

wheelchair racer Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and field, track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, including leg amputees, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. Athletes are c ...

, who competed at

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. She survived

meningococcal disease Meningococcal disease is a serious infection caused by ''Neisseria meningitidis'', also known as meningococcus, a gram negative diplococcus. Meningococcal disease includes meningitis, meningococcal septicemia, or a combination of both, which c ...

and plays a major role in improving the Australian community's awareness of the disease.

Early life

Eliza Jane Ault-Connell was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales, on 19 September 1981. In 1997, at the age of 16, she nearly died from

. 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 the Director of Meningococcal Australia and is involved in promoting the awareness of meningococcal disease in the Australian community. In 2022, she was part of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS) Accelerate program that is designed to increase the number and visibility of women in sport leadership positions. She is an Ambassador for Wheelchair Sports NSW/ACT.

Athletics career

Before her illness, Stankovic excelled in netball and basketball. In 1998, she started running using her prosthetic legs and was classed T44 athlete. However, she moved to wheelchair racing as a T54 athlete due to a problem with the bone in the stump. During her athletics, she competed as Eliza Ault-Connell. Ault-Connell's first major international competition was

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

where she won the bronze medal in the Women's Wheelchair 800m. At the 2002

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

, she competed in three events and won a silver medal in the Women's 400m T54 event. At the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, 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 The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September ...

. At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, she competed in five events and did not medal. Ault-Connell won three consecutive Oz Day 10K Wheelchair Road Race from 2004 to 2006. She won a bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54 at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. At the 2006

, she competed in three events and won a bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54. At the

2019 London Marathon The 2019 London Marathon was the 39th running of the annual marathon race in London, United Kingdom, which took place on 28 April. The elite men's race was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who took his fourth London Marathon victory in a time of ...

which was also the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships marathon event, she finished fourth in the Women's T46. At

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, she won the bronze medal in the Women's 800m T54. She was made 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

2019 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as p ...

"for significant service to community health, and as a Paralympic athlete." Marathon Tokyo MM edit

She at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics, her second Summer Paralympics, In the T54 events she qualified for the finals and came 8th in the

100m The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and 7th in the

400m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

. and 13th in the

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

. She announced her retirement from competitive athletics in August 2022.

Family

Stankovic was previously married to gold medal-winning Australian Paralympic athlete Kieran Ault-Connell and they have two daughters and a son. She also has two step daughters.

Recognition

* NSWIS

Ian Thorpe Ian James Thorpe (born 13 October 1982) is an Australian retired swimmer who specialised in freestyle swimming, freestyle, but also competed in backstroke and the medley swimming, individual medley. He has won five Olympic gold medals, the se ...

Grand Slam International Outstanding Achievement Award * 2002 Australian Junior Paralympian of the Year * 2003 Newcastle Young Citizen of the Year * 2007 Victorian State Finalist Young Australian of the Year 2007 * 2019

References

External links

Eliza Ault
at

Athletics Australia Australian Athletics is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Australian Sports Commission for the sport of athletics in Australia. Founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 reg ...

(archive)
Eliza Ault-Connell (Stankovic)
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stankovic-Mowle, Eliza 1981 births Living people Australian female wheelchair racers Olympic wheelchair racers for Australia Wheelchair racers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Paralympic athletes for Australia Paralympic wheelchair racers Wheelchair-category Paralympic competitors Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Australian amputees Members of the Order of Australia Sportspeople from Sydney Sportswomen from New South Wales 20th-century Australian women 21st-century Australian sportswomen Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics