12 Sep 2021

In case you missed history being made a few hours ago - Dylan Alcott has secured a Golden Slam title after winning the US Open. 

Now, if you don’t watch tennis (what are you doing with your life), you’re probably thinking “I have no idea what you’re on about. Why should I care about this?”

Well, Dylan Alcott is a sporting legend (has represented Australia for more than half his life), a motivational speaker and an all-round great bloke. Take his consequentially Australian celebration for example:

 

Sinking piss out of your Golden Slam winning trophy? Bloody iconic.

We get excited over any win of Dylan’s but a Golden Slam is the highest tennis achievement. The title is claimed when a player wins all four Grand Slam tournaments as well as a Paralympic or Olympic gold medal within the one calendar year (sheesh). Just for clarity, that is:

  • 🏆🇦🇺 Australian Open
  • 🏆🇫🇷 French Open
  • 🏆🇬🇧 Wimbledon
  • 🥇🇯🇵 Paralympics
  • 🏆🇺🇸 US Open

He’s the first male to ever do it too. The GOAT.

Only two other people have claimed the title - one back in 1988 by Steffi Graf and the other, just hours ago by Diede de Groot. 

With the win comes reflection. Dylan was born with a tumour wrapped around his spinal cord and although it was successfully removed through numerous surgeries, he was required to use a wheelchair. 

In his motivational speeches, Dylan speaks about a blurry photo of him when he was in hospital, barely a few weeks old and really sick. Only three years ago, his father told him it was taken because the doctors told him “you should take a photo because he’s probably not gonna be here in the morning." Growing up, he experienced the social struggle with having a disability.

“I used to hate myself so much, I hated my disability. I didn’t even want to be here anymore," he commented after winning the Golden Slam.

“Then I found tennis and it changed and saved my life.”

Dylan Alcott advocates for social inclusion, breaks down the negative stigma and connotations and challenges what people think about disability. He uses his platform in the media to normalise disability with his inspirational storytelling, humility and refreshing take on challenging what people know about disability. His podcast, ListenABLE is a perfect example that gives a voice to people with disability to a wide, able bodied audience.

“(It is) changing my life... but hopefully changing the lives of millions of people with disability around the world that they can see themselves on the big stage doing what they love."

We also love Dylan’s other half - Chantelle Otten, an award winning sexologist that is passionate about normalising sexuality. Talk about a killer power duo!

 

With the possibility of retirement on the horizon, we’re so bloody proud of everything he does on and off the court - an astonishing effort and a massive congratulations to the beer chugging, history-making legend of a bloke, Dylan Alcott!