Background
Todd Hodgetts was born on 23 March 1988 in Launceston, and is from Newstead.
Todd Hodgetts was born on 23 March 1988 in Launceston, and is from Newstead.
He lived in Tasmania until 2011, when he moved to Canberra to improve his chances of making the 2012 Summer Paralympics. After the London Games, he relocated to Melbourne. He is studying for a certificate IV in fitness as of 2012.
He has an autism spectrum disorder.
Other sports in which he participates include weightlifting. Nicknamed "The Hulk", Hodgetts specialises in the shot put.
He competes in the F20 classification. He is coached by Gus Puopolo.
He works with a gymnastics coach to help with his balance and conditioning.
At the 2004 Tasmanian Championships, he competed in the under-18 shot put event where he scored a state record with one of his throws. Hodgetts made his national team debut in 2005. He competed at the 2009 Australian national athletics championships in Adelaide.
At the 2012 Australian Championships, he set a world record in the shot put.
After the Games, he underwent elbow surgery. In 2013, Hodgetts relocated to Melbourne to train under throws coach Gus Puoplo.
He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."
After winning the gold medal, Hodgetts said: "People wrote me off after London. I had two surgeries and people were saying that I couldn’t come back, it’s amazing that I have.
The faith that my coach, and Australia, and the team at the VIS had in me made me confident that I could and it’s awesome." He was a finalist in the 2015 Tasmanian Athlete of the Year.
On 13 February 2016 at the Briggs Classic in Hobart, Tasmania, he threw the shot put 16.33 m to break the world record of 16.24 m for the Men"s F20 that he set at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
He is a member of the Newstead Harriers.