By Tom Degun

Kelly_Cartwright_long_jumping_in_Christchurch_January_23_2011April 23 - Paralympic stars Evan O'Hanlon and Kelly Cartwright (pictured) crowned their fabulous years by being named Athletics Australia's Male and Female Athletes of the Year with a Disability respectively.


O'Hanlon and Cartwright claimed two gold medals apiece at the prestigious 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Christchurch in January to illustrate exactly why they are being widely tipped to be major gold medal contenders at the London 2012 Paralympic next year.

The 22-year-old O'Hanlon, who was born with cerebral palsy, claimed both the 100 and 200 metres T38 world titles in Christchurch to follow on from his success in securing three Paralympic gold medals at Beijing 2008.

He finished the 100m in a Championship record of 11.14sec and went on to claimed a second Championship record of as he stormed to victory in the 200m in 22.31.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Cartwright, who lost her leg to cancer at age 15, broke the women's F42 long jump world record in Christchurch with a leap of 4.19 metres to claim her first gold medal of the Championships.

She added a second gold to her collection just two days later by winning the 100m T42 race to underline her tag as favourite for the event at London 2012.

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