The first week of the Paralympic Games has produced some epic competition, including with Australian women who have clinched huge wins in table tennis, cycling and triathlon.
There is much more to come but in the meantime, we share some of our highlights so far.
Para table tennis: Li Na Lei and Qian Yang
Table tennis legend Li Na Lei (OAM) and her playing partner Qian Yang (OAM) won gold in the women’s doubles final at the para table tennis event, beating Taiwan’s Tzu Yu Lin and Shiau Wen Tian.
The duo won 11-7, 11-6, 2-11, 12-10. The win marks Li Na Lei’s sixth Paralympic gold.
“I’m so proud to represent Australia,” Lei said after her latest gold medal win in Paris.
“I quite enjoy the Australian lifestyle and our Australian table tennis team is a lovely family. We support each other and all staff support me… Australia is a multicultural country. We accept every culture. The first doubles gold medal has a different meaning for us.”
“Last time we just got singles medals and this time we’ve made history, so it’s so exciting right now,” Lei added.
The pair both won individual Paralympic gold medals at the Tokyo Games and snared gold for Australia as a pair at the Rio 2016 Games.
Lei, 35, was born in Sichuan with a deficiency in her right lower leg. She represented China at four Paralympics, taking home five golds and three silvers.
In the past two Paralympics, Lei, who now lives in Victoria, has won two gold medals and one silver for Australia, securing the country’s first individual women’s Paralympic gold medal.
“The training regimen in Australia has prolonged my sports career,” she said in an interview published on the Victorian Institute of Sport page.
“It is potentially something I will adhere to for my whole life. It is a great honour and a source of pride for me to have captured the singles gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics while representing Australia. I am glad to do my part to make table tennis a better place in Australia.”
“This is not only the reward for my efforts, but also a reflection of successful team collaboration. It’s the fruit of the collective efforts of my team manager, coach, strength and conditioning coach, nutritionist, and myself.”
Yang is the World Table Tennis’s top ranked player in her class and represented her birth-country of China at the London and Rio Games, winning one gold and three silver medals. She was just 17 when she won her first Paralympic gold medal.
Since representing Australia, the 28-year old has secured two golds and one silver.
Para cycling: Amanda Reid
Track cyclist Amanda Reid won gold at the women’s C1-3 500m time trial, defending the gold medal she won at Tokyo 2020. The Blue Mountains native said her win was “an unreal feeling.”
“The last 12-plus months have been really rough for me, so to go back-to-back is just absolutely amazing,” she said. “I try not to think about the race too much and just go for it when I ride. [I tell myself], ‘It’s two laps, go as fast as you can’.”
Reid is a proud Wemba Wemba and Guring-gai who has cerebral palsy. She was a swimmer before she switched to cycling. She made her Paralympic debut at the London Games more than a decade ago, competing in the 100m breaststroke.
Speaking to news.com earlier this year, the 28-year old said she wanted to see more help provided for all Indigenous para-athletes.
“When I was coming up, it was extremely difficult to find funding or anything so I understand how hard it is for the next generation,” she said.
“These communities have people who are talented but how can we help them become involved in sport if they can’t afford it. I would love to try and change the way it is for our mob. We’re disadvantaged, we don’t always have the funds to buy equipment, especially para-athletes.”
“It’s definitely more costly when you need different types of equipment or you need something modified. That stuff always comes with a hefty price tag.”
Para cycling: Emily Petricola
Cyclist Emily Petricola won gold in the final of the women’s C4 3000m pursuit event, defend her gold medal by beating New Zealand’s Anna Taylor.
After her epic win, the 44-year old two-time Paralympian said she is hoping to clinch another gold at Paris.
“My goal is to try and win. That’s what I’m here to do, is to try and win two Paralympic gold medals,” she said, looking ahead to her next road event.
“It’ll be really tough but I’ve got good people around me and we have done the work so hopefully we can have another great day.”
Petricola was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2007 when she was just 27. During her preparations for Paris, her condition flared up, causing her back to spasm.
“I just woke up one day and my back was in full spasm, which went into my left leg … it hasn’t settled,” she said.
“The medical support on the ground since we left Australia and prior to that, I wouldn’t have been on the start line without those people.”
“It puts a lot of questions into your head around whether or not you can actually do it or whether or not I was going to be able to back up today.”
“One thing I know is the team around me. I’ve prepared me as well as possible and one thing I kept telling myself as I was warming up was that I’ve done the work, my body is ready to do this irrespective of how it feels.”
PTWC triathlon: Lauren Parker
Australian triathlete Lauren Parker won the gold medal in the women’s PTWC triathlon, crossing the line well ahead of the competitor who’d beaten her at the Tokyo Games by just one second.
The 35-year-old said her loss to American rival Kendall Gretsch at the last Paralympic Games was a “a big driving force over the last three years.”
“Every single day, every single training session, I’ve worked so hard to accomplish what I have today,” she said after her win.
“I’ve had the goal of getting the gold medal here in Paris ever since Tokyo. Every single session I’ve been putting myself through in training I’ve had that vision and I can’t believe I’ve done that today.”
“I can’t believe it, a dream come true today. I’ve been through a lot in the last three years and it just sums up everything I’ve been through and worked hard towards.”
“Sport brings emotional rollercoasters from week to week – I’ve been through a lot emotionally, personally, physically.”
“I’ve been through a bike accident and lots of other things that I’ve had to overcome, and to be able to do this today is so special.”
The accident she referred to occurred in 2017 during a training ride when her wheelchair tyres blew as she was travelling at 40km/hr, sending her crashing into a guard rail. The accident left her with paraplegia among other serious injuries.
“Laying in that hospital bed back in 2017, a life-changing accident, I never thought I’d be able to get back into sport let alone compete at the Paralympic Games and winning a gold medal,” she said this week.
“It means everything, I’ve been through so much since then as well, the emotional rollercoaster I’ve been through, pushing through every single day, every single second just to be here.”
Parker will now compete in the individual time trial and road race, putting her on course to become Australia’s first dual-sport Paralympic gold medallist at a Games since 1976.