 Photo of Dylan Littlehales from the 2020 Australian Paralympic Team media guide | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality |  Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 November 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Avoca Kayak Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Dylan Littlehales (born 2 November 1999) is an Australian paracanoeist. He competed for Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. [1] [2]
Littlehales was born on 2 November 1999. [3] At birth, his right leg had a deficiency with it missing some crucial ligaments and bones. [3] He has undergone 20 operations to improve the outcome but still has poor mobility and strength in the right leg. [3] He attended Kariong Mountains High School. [4] In 2021, He is undertaking a Bachelor of Science majoring in Psychology at the University of Newcastle. [5] He lives in Kariong, New South Wales.
He is classified as KL3 paracanoeist. His uncle Mike Druce, Australian slalom coach, introduced him to paracanoeing at the age of fourteen. He said: "I picked up the sport at the perfect time, because right after I started a new canoe club started about 20 minutes away from me. They had a bunch of boats and paddles, and then I got my own stuff eventually. It is difficult to be able to stay in the boat at first, just to sit fine in it can be a pretty physical thing. After learning that, it is more of a mental thing and building up physical strength." [6]
At the 2015 Australian Championships in Sydney, he finished second in the Men's K1 200 LTA and third in the Men's K1 500 and 1000 LTA events. [4] As a fifteen year old, he competed at the 2015 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Milan. [4] He was the youngest competitor by three years. He finished eight in the Men's KL3 200m B Final. [6] [4]
In 2016, he was the gold medallist at the Australian Championships in Perth, Western Australia and Oceania Championships in the Men's 200 m KL3. [4] At the 2016 ICF Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg, Germany, he finished second in the Men's 200 m KL3 B Final. This qualified Australia a 2016 Rio Paralympics quota spot. [7] At the Rio Paralympics, at the age of seventeen, he finished sixth in the Men's KL3 semi-final and did not qualify for the final. [1]
In November 2016, he was awarded Australian Canoeing Junior Canoeist of the Year. [8]
At the 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Račice, Czech Republic, he finished fifth in the Men's KL3 200m. [9] At the 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal, he again finished fifth in the Men's KL3 200m.
At the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, Szeged, Hungary, he finished fourth in the Men's KL3 200m. [10]
At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Littlehales finished fourth in the Men's Men's KL3 200m. [11] He came second in his Heat and won his Semi-Final. He could not better his Semi-Final time of 40.234. If he had he would have won the Gold medal. [12]
Littlehales won his first international medal by winning the bronze medal in the Men's KL3 200m at the 2022 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships and followed it up with the gold medal at the 2022 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. [13]
He has been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France. [14] In the lead up to the Paralympics, Littlehales won a silver medal at the 2024 ICF World Para Canoe Championships in Szeged, Hungary. [15]
Littlehales is coached by Paul Hutchinson, David Birt and Shaun Caven and is a member of the Avoca Kayak Club. [4] [3] He models his kayaking technique on two Australian kayakers - Lachlan Tame and Rob McIntyre. [4]
He also swims for the Gosford Stingrays Swim Club. [16]
The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships are an international event in canoe racing, one of two top-tier Summer Olympic sport events organized by the International Canoe Federation. They are usually held every non-Olympic year and have officially included paracanoe events since 2010; paracanoe-specific editions of this event are usually held in Summer Paralympic years.
Henry Manni is a Finnish athlete and paracanoeist who has competed and medaled in both fields at World Championship level. In Paracanoeing he won a bronze medal in the K-1 200 m TA event at the 2010 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznań. Manni later switched to athletics as a wheelchair sprinter in the T34 classification. In 2013 he won a bronze in the World Championships in the 200m event, following this with four golds in the 2014 European Championships and three further World championship medals in 2015.
Paracanoe debuted at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. A meeting of the International Paralympic Committee in Guangzhou, China in 2010 decided to add paracanoe to the roster of the Summer Paralympic Games.
Curtis Wain McGrath, is an Australian paracanoeist and former soldier. He took up canoeing competitively after both of his legs were amputated as a result of a mine blast while serving with the Australian Army in Afghanistan. McGrath won consecutive gold medals in the Men's KL2 at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, and has won ten gold medals and a silver at ICF Paracanoe World Championships between 2014 and 2019.
Kara Kennedy is an Australian paracanoeist who has won silver medals at the 2013 and 2014 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships.
Amanda Jane "AJ" Jennings is an Australian paracanoeist and para archer. She won two gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships and a silver medal in the Women's 200m KL3 at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Paracanoe is canoeing for athletes with a range of physical disabilities. The Paralympic version of the sport is governed by the International Canoe Federation (ICF), and a va'a-specific variant is governed by the International Va'a Federation (IVF).
Susan Seipel is an Australian Para-canoeist, a gold and bronze medallist in kayak and outrigger canoe at the 2015 and 2016 World Championships. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. another bronze medal at 2024 Summer Paralympics
Colin Sieders is an Australian paracanoeist and former racing driver. He competed for Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
The 2017 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 43rd edition of the World Championships, were held in Račice, Czech Republic, from 23 to 27 August 2017.
Anne Dickins, is a British paracanoeist who competes in the KL3 classification. She won gold in this event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and has also won two World Championship and three European Championship golds.
The 2016 ICF Paracanoe World Championships was held in Duisburg, Germany, from 17 to 19 May 2016. This event, which is usually part of the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, was held separately as the latter is not held in Olympic years. It shared the venue with, and was held concurrently with the 2016 European Canoe Sprint Olympic Qualifier tournament.
The 2018 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 44th edition of the World Championships, were held in Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal, from 22 to 26 August 2018.
The 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, the 45th edition of the World Championships, were held in Szeged, Hungary from 21 to 25 August 2019.
The 2019 Paracanoe European Championships was held in Poznań, Poland, from 21 to 22 May 2019. This event, which is usually part of the Canoe Sprint European Championships, was held separately as the ECA chose not to organise said event because of the European Games.
The men's KL3 competition at the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged took place at the Olympic Centre of Szeged.
Erica Scarff is a Canadian paracanoeist who competes in international level events.
Jaime Roberts is an Australian canoeist. She qualified to represent Australia at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Her team consisting of Jo Brigden-Jones, Catherine McArthur, and Shannon Reynolds made the women's K-4 final but failed to win a medal, coming 7th with a time of 1:39.797 over two seconds slower than their best time in the heats.
Stuart Wood is a British paracanoeist. He represented Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
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