Background
McCracken was born on 20 January 1997, and is from Bundaberg. McCracken has cerebral palsy, a condition he was born with.
McCracken was born on 20 January 1997, and is from Bundaberg. McCracken has cerebral palsy, a condition he was born with.
He attended Avoca State School. He later attended Bundaberg State High School.
His success led him to be named the 2012 Junior Athlete of the Year as part of the Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards. He started using a wheelchair in late 2009 because it was less painful. McCracken is a wheelchair racer, competing in the T34 class.
He competes in 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres and 1,500 metres.
He began competing in athletics in 2005, and started wheelchair racing in 2010. In 2008, at the Queensland 12 years and under Track and Field Championships, McCracken came in first place in the boys 11 years AWD 100m, 200m, long jump, shot put and discus events.
In 2008, he participated in the Pan Pacific Games in Canberra. He took home first place in the Athletes With a Disability (AWD) 11 years boys" 100m, long jump, shot put and discus events.
In 2009, he participated in the Queensland State Championships in the boys 12 years Athletes With a Disability long jump, 100m, discus and shot put events, winning every one of them.
That year, he also competed at the Queensland State Championships and the Australian National Championships. In 2011, McCracken made his Australian national team debut During 2011, in preparation for the Paralympics, he completed six total training sessions a week. He finished third at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon"s wheelchair half-marathon in July 2011.
In 2011, he competed in Sydney"s City2Surf event in the first year the event had an elite wheelchair category.
The time qualified him for the 2012 Paralympics as the qualifying time was 17 seconds. Other events he competed in included the 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres and 1,500 metres, taking silver in the 400 metres, 800 metres and 1,500 metres events.
He was half a second slow in the 200 metres event from setting a Paralympic qualifying time. In December 2011, he participated in a national athletics team training camp in Canberra.
In January 2012, McCracken participated in the Australia Day Series in Canberra, where he finished second with a time of 24.38 in the junior race.
In January 2012, he trained in Sydney. He later trained with Kurt Fearnley in Newcastle. In January 2012, he finished second the Oz Day 10K men"s junior division.
He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics in the 100 metre and 200 metre events.
He qualified for the Games in December 2011 as a fourteen-year-old. He is coached by Andrew Dawes.
He is a member of the Bundaberg Athletic Club. Making his national team debut, he was one of the youngest members of the Australian team at the event.