AIS Paralympic athlete Evan O’Hanlon starred on the track and created history, winning double gold in the 100 and 200 metres (T3 class) in world record time — to become the world’s fastest Paralympian at the London Games.

The 24-year-old O’Hanlon blitzed the field, breaking his own world records in both the 100 and 200 metre events (T3 class) while defending his sprint titles from the Beijing 2008 Games.

On Day 2 of the competition, O’Hanlon led from the front and cruised to victory in the 100 metres in a world record time of 10.79 seconds. 

A week later, O’Hanlon backed up with a stunning performance to win the 200 metres in a time of 21.82 seconds and claim the sprint double gold.  

It was remarkable achievement and perfect run for O’Hanlon with two gold and two world records at close of the London Games.

Fittingly, the Paralympic champion was honoured to carry the Australian flag in the closing ceremony of the London Games. .

O’Hanlon joined the AIS Paralympic athletic program in 2005, where he has been training under the guidance of its head coach Iryna Dvoskina.

O’Hanlon was thrilled to win two gold and credited his coach for contributing to his Paralympic success.  

In this video interview recorded prior to the London Paralympics, Evan O’Hanlon talks about his preparation for the London Games and the influence his coach Iryna Dvoskina has had on his exceptional career. He tells us ’he is not an exceptionally talented athlete; just that he has an exceptionally talented coach.’ At the Beijing Paralympics, Evan blitzed the world with gold medals in the 100-m and 200-m events and 4x100-m relay.

He is living proof that disabled athletes are professional elite competitors and in his case able to compete with able bodied athletes. His relationship with Iryna Dvoskina is one of the best you will see. Iryna is a particularly talented and committed coach who is passionate about training Paralympians. She was the head coach of the Ukraine Paralympic team for seven years before joining the AIS.

Iryna’s dedication to Paralympic sport shines though. She made the active decision to move from able-bodied to Paralympic sport; predicting technological advances would enhance Paralympic performance. 

She says, ‘The AIS is a very special place, you can’t beat the Institute’s facilities. It is just amazing the data we can have from bio-mechanic analysis.’