Donald "Don" James William Elgin (born 19 December 1975) is an Australian Paralympic amputee

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who won four medals at three Paralympics.

Personal

Elgin was born on 19 December 1975 in the Victorian town of Donald. He was born without a left leg and a left thumb, with small toes, and webbed fingers on both hands; his malformed left foot was amputated shortly after he was born and he had open heart surgery at the age of three. He was raised in the New South Wales town of Tocumwal, and competed in athletics and swimming as a teenager. He lives in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

with his wife, three daughters and a son. He is the Founder and Managing Director of StarAmp Global, a boutique management company that specialises in managing and supporting paralympic competitors. He also works as a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...

both in Australia and around the world.

Sports career

Elgin first participated in sports for people with disabilities at the 1990 New South Wales Amputee Championships. His first international competition was the 1994 IPC Athletics World Championships in Berlin, where he won a gold medal in the 4x100 m relay and a bronze medal in the high jump. He participated without winning any medals at the

1996 Atlanta Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...

and came fourth in the pentathlon at the 1998 IPC Athletics World Championships in Birmingham. At the

2000 Sydney Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

, he won a bronze medal in the Men's Pentathlon P44 event. At the 2002 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lille, he won two silver medals in the pentathlon and 4x400 m relay and a bronze medal in the 4x100 m relay. At the

2004 Athens Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

, he won a silver medal in the Men's 4x400 m T42–46 event and two bronze medals in the Men's 4x100 m T42–46 and Men's Pentathlon P44 events. He came sixth in the pentathlon at the

2006 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Assen, Netherlands from 2–9 September 2006. It was the fourth edition of the international athletics competition for athletes with a disability organised by the International Paralympic Co ...

, where he was the Australian flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, and commentated at that year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He retired from para-athletics in 2008, but made a comeback in 2013 after learning that the sport would be included in the

2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

. He came eighth in the Men's Discus Throw F42/44 at the games. He was coached by Roy Boyd, Cath Woodruff, John Eden, De Jennings, and Peter Negropontis. He held a scholarship from 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 succe ...

for 12 years. He is the team manager for the Australian Paralympic Athletics Team.

Recognition

In 2000, Elgin received an Australian Sports Medal for "service to amputee sport", in particular "development of junior athletes and track and field". In November 2018, he was awarded the

Frank Pyke Frank Sherman Pyke (1 December 1941 – 22 November 2011) was an Australian sports scientist, educator, author, Australian rules footballer and sports administrator. He played 130 games for in the Western Australian National Football League ( ...

Achievement Award.

Gallery

28 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Track Don Elgin.jpg, Australian athlete Don Elgin receives support from an official at the completion of one of the events in the pentathlon at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games 251000 - Athletics track pentathlon Don Elgin head shot - 3b - 2000 Sydney portrait photo.jpg, Close up of Elgin looking upwards during track competition at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Don_Elgin_competing_in_the_pentathlon_at_the_1996_Atlanta_Paralympic_Games.jpg, Elgin competing in the pentathlon at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games 211000 - Athletics field shot put Don Elgin action 3 - 3b - 2000 Sydney event photo.jpg, Elgin throwing the shot put at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics

References

External links

Don Elgin's websiteStarAmp Global
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elgin, Don 1975 births Living people Australian male sprinters Australian male high jumpers Australian pentathletes Paralympic athletes of Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Sprinters with limb difference High jumpers with limb difference Australian amputees Sportsmen from Victoria (Australia) People from Donald, Victoria Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Paralympic sprinters Paralympic high jumpers