Quad wheelchair world No. 1 Dylan Alcott features in a new series on the Olympic Channel called What Moves Me where elite athletes share personal stories of overcoming difficulty to achieve greatness.

Alcott, a 10-time Grand Slam champion and the reigning gold medallist from Rio 2016 in both quad singles and doubles, is no stranger to breaking down barriers, but the affable Australian reflects on a time in his life before he was famous.

“I used to love having a disability up until I was about 12 or 13 years old,” he recalls. “And that’s when I really started to struggle because I got bullied extensively, got called a ‘cripple’ and a bunch of other words. For about two years I sat at home, embarrassed to leave the house because I wasn’t proud of who I was.”

Alcott, who has been in a wheelchair his whole life after being born with a tumour wrapped around his spinal cord, explains in the second episode of the Olympic Channel series that his parents were incredibly supportive and made sure that he wasn’t made to feel different when he was growing up.

But it was only when he realised that the reason he wasn’t being invited to parties or to hang out with his friends as he got older was because his peers didn’t know how to talk to him and were embarrassed about his disability.

“The biggest advice I can give,” says Alcott about feelings of anxiety. “Talk about what’s going on – positive or negative. Sometimes it’s natural to have negative thoughts about the person that you are. Try to change that mindset, get in a positive frame of mind to get out there and be the best version of you.”

Presented in partnership with Toyota, What Moves Me features inspirational lessons from world-class Team Toyota athletes who share their stories about overcoming common personal barriers and starting their own impossible.

Watch Dylan’s episode in full