Carol Cooke

Carol Cooke

2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Cooke
Personal information
Full name	Carol Lynn Cooke
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1961-08-06) 6 August 1961 (age 55) Toronto, Canada
Residence	Northcote, Victoria
Sport
Country	Australia
Sport	Cycling
Disability	Multiple sclerosis
Disability class	T2
Club	St. Kilda CC
Medal record Cycling Paralympic Games 2012 London Mixed Time Trial T1–2 2016 Rio Women's Time Trial T1–2 2016 Rio Women's Road Race T1–2 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships 2011 Roskilde Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2011 Roskilde Women's Road Race T2 2013 Baie-Comeau Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2013 Baie-Comeau Women's Road Race T2 2014 Grenville Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2014 Grenville Women's Road Race T2 2015 Nottwil Women's Individual Time Trial T2 2015 Nottwil Women's Road Race T2

Carol Lynn Cooke, AM (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 before her country boycotted the games. She moved to Australia in 1994, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 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. She was part of the Australian cycling team for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.

Carol Lynn Cooke was born on 6 August 1961 in Toronto, Canada. She worked with the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force for 14 years, following in the footsteps of her family, and spent some time working with the undercover drug squad. She met and married her husband, then moved to Australia in 1994, and was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 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, a relay swimming event that raises money for multiple sclerosis research. As of 2012^[update], she works as a motivational speaker and event planner and lives in the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.

Cooke is a keen swimmer, and was hoping to make the Canadian team for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, but she did not compete because Canada joined the boycott of the games. She then took up triathlon, coming fifth in her first competition, the 1985 World Police and Fire Games. 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. In 2006, at the age of 44, she qualified for the Telstra Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials; she reached the finals of the 50 m breaststroke multi-disability event.