The late Rod ‘Rocket’ Hacon was a sit-skier who competed in the LW11 and subsequently LWXII category. As a consequence of a traumatic injury, Hacon became a semiplegic, which means he still had nerve sensation from his lower limbs. He spent most of his life trying to manage constant, debilitating pain for which he tried several psychological, medical and pharmacological treatments, with little success.

Hacon made his debut at the Paralympic Games in Tignes-Albertville, in 1992, where he didn’t finish either of the events he competed in, the Slalom and the Giant Slalom.

Two years later, in Lillehammer, he competed in all events, scoring a fourth place in the Super-G and a fifth place in the Downhill, where he missed the bronze medal for just 17 hundreds of a second. 

Hacon went on to win a Bronze in the Slalom at the 1996 Disabled Alpine World Championships (now World Para Alpine Skiing Championships) in Lech, Austria, an event that turned out to be his swansong.

Selected to make a third Paralympic participation at the 1998 Nagano Games, Hacon had to withdraw due to injury just before the Games. During a training camp in Canada, he slipped while taking care of his own equipment and severely cut the tendons in his hand. He returned to Australia to have surgery, which however wasn’t entirely successful. The injury ended up forcing him to miss the Games. 

He was a member of the Thredbo Ski Racing Club.