Leary fulfills fortune teller’s prophecy with world record, Parker claims slice of Paralympic history
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Leary fulfills fortune teller’s prophecy with world record, Parker claims slice of Paralympic history

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High-octane house music has propelled rising Australian swim star Alexa Leary to a Paralympic gold medal and fulfilled a prophecy set out by a fortune teller three years ago.

After setting a 59.60 world record in the morning session heat at La Defense Arena in Paris, Leary went one better to claim gold in the 100m freestyle (S9) with a time of 59.53.

The gold was Leary’s first individual Paralympic medal and came after she had single-handedly carried Australia’s 100m relay team to an emphatic first-place finish two days earlier.

The achievement marked another incredible milestone in the increasingly rich chapter of what the 23-year-old’s terms her “second life”.

Leary fell off her bike in a near-fatal accident in 2021, leaving her with brain damage and several long-term injuries.

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More than once, doctors informed her parents, Russ and Belinda, they should prepare to say goodbye to their daughter.

Searching for answers and hope, Leary’s parents turned to a clairvoyant who predicted that the swimmer would rise to become a Paralympic gold medallist .

“It is actually so amazing the fact that when I was in ICU, my dad got a fortune teller,” Leary explained.

“The fortune teller read that I wanted to go to the Paralympics, and now I’m here, I’m like ‘wow, I did it’.”

Leary was beside herself with excitement as she revelled in clinching gold in a world record time.

And that feeling was only heightened when Network Nine showed her a congratulatory video from Australian music producer Fisher.

“He’s one amazing person and I’ve always got my headphones in, he upbeats me every single day. The best song he plays is ‘World Hold On’,” Leary said.

“It gets me going. It gets me in race mode every single time and I don’t know, what it is about his music, but he gets me in this rhythm to just go smash it in the water.”

After belting out ‘Advance Australia Fair’ on the podium, Leary celebrated her gold by dancing on the podium, performing the robot and staring down the barrel of the broadcast camera.

Her infectious personality and comeback story has quickly made her one of the most-endearing characters in Australian sport.

“I’m like, wow, I’m amazed at myself that I am, I’m like, ‘Yeah, Lex, I love that for you,’ it just makes me want to go even harder at the next Paralympics to see what else I’ve got,” Leary said.

There was nearly a second Australian medal in Leary’s race with Emily Beecroft just missing bronze in finishing fourth.

However, there were two bronze medals won for Australia in the pool on Wednesday night.

Twenty-year-old Ricky Betar led his 200m individual medley (S14) through the first 100m but trailed off to finish third.

That was in contrast to Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson, who surged into third spot late in his 50m breaststroke (SB2) to grab his second bronze of the Games.

Patterson, 35, was adamant he wants to race on until the 2032 Games in Brisbane and catch his white whale.

“Unless something else comes up like Mercedes offer me an (F1) contract, I’ll be there in 2032,” Patterson said.

“I’ve got one goal left and that’s the gold medal, who knows if I’ll ever get it but I’ll go out and die trying.”

Cycling silver as Lauren Parker smashes 44-year record

Lauren Parker is basking in the glory of becoming Australia’s first dual-sport Paralympic medallist in 44 years after claiming silver in the women’s H1-3 individual time trial to add to her triathlon gold.

After finishing first in the para-triathlon on Monday, Parker was facing a lofty task to match a feat last achieved by Eric Russell, who won a gold (shot put) and two bronzes (discus and pentathlon) in 1980.

But the remarkable Parker was undaunted by the history facing her in the Parisian satellite town of Clichy-sous-Bois and could well have finished first with a gold to her name.

The 35-year-old crossed the finish line on Wednesday in 24:24.09, just 9.5secs behind American winner Katerina Brim.

“If only I had the extra nine seconds in me,” Parker quipped.

“I couldn’t have done anything more, I put it all out there on the race course.

“I can’t believe that I’ve been able to do that, it’s been a goal of mine to do both sports since Tokyo… I’m very happy with that.”

Parker still remains a chance, however, to grab a second gold when she features in the cycling road race on Thursday morning (local time).

“It’s been a mental game to get through my bike accidents so to achieve what I’ve achieved so far… I’m happy,” Parker said.

“We’re two down and one to go and it’s definitely going to be tough, I think all the girls will be feeling it out there… we’ll see what it brings.”

Parker’s silver came on a successful day for Australia, with a total of nine medals secured, four of which came from Parker’s fellow cyclists.

Alana Forster (women’s C5) and Darren Hicks (men’s C2) claimed bronze in their individual pursuits.

While Alistair Donohoe (men’s C5) and Meg Lemon (women’s C4) grabbed silvers, with Lemon’s Australian teammate Emily Petricola, who claimed a velodrome gold medal earlier in the Games, having to settle for fourth.

Cyclists weaved their way through a 14.2km course – male racers did the course twice over – in the nearby forest, looping around through the commune’s main strip and concluding with a sharp climb to finish at a municipal sports ground.

The unglamorous backdrop was in sharp contrast to the picturesque views of the Olympic time trial or the triathlon where Parker won gold, but it suited Lemon perfectly.

“My coaches just told me to finish at the end of the forest before the last downhill and uphill, and then they knew that I could climb,” Lemon said.

“Whatever I had left, I was just going to fly up the hill if I could.

“Em (Petricola) came up to me and told me I was second and I thought I was dreaming, it’s pretty remarkable.”

How Australia fared on Day 7

GOLD

Alexa Leary (swimming, women’s 100m freestyle, S9) – One of the richest redemption stories keeps getting richer. Leary smashed a world record she had set earlier in the day to career home and win her second gold medal of her debut Games.

Yang Qian (table tennis, women’s singles S10) – The Chinese-born table tennis player is a woman of few words but of many medals. Defending her Tokyo crown, the 28-year-old emerged with a 3-0 win over Natalia Partyka.

SILVER

Lauren Parker (cycling, women’s H1-3 individual time trial) – Chasing an historic gold double after her triathlon triumph, Parker went desperately close to finishing first. She finished just 9.50 seconds behind American winner Katerina Brim.

Meg Lemon (cycling, women’s C4 individual time trial) – After winning bronze in Tokyo, the 34-year-old went one better but was unable to reel in Samantha Bosco of the USA.

Alistair Donohoe (cycling, men’s C5 individual time trial) – Donohoe won silver at Rio and bronze in Tokyo but he couldn’t better them against Dutch racer Daniel Abraham, who finished 26.87 seconds ahead of the Australian.

BRONZE

Alana Forster (cycling, women’s C5 individual time trial) – A triumphant first Paralympic medal for the Victorian, who two years ago was in emergency care after being involved in a near-fatal car crash.

Darren Hicks (cycling, men’s C2 individual time trial) – Hicks, who won gold at Tokyo, went close to retaining his crown but he finished 15.63 seconds off an inspired showing from eventual winner Alexandre Leaute of France.

Ricky Betar (swimming, men’s 200m individual medley S14) – The 20-year-old looked to have a strong chance of picking up a gold medal when he led the race through the first 100m. But Canada’s Nicholas Bennett and Great Britain’s Rhys Darbey finished strongly to place ahead of him.

Grant Patterson (swimming, men’s 50m breaststroke, SB2) – A fourth Paralympic medal for the colorful and endearing 35-year-old who made a late move to finish in third. Patterson declared after his race he wanted to keep competing until Brisbane 2032.

WHAT ELSE HAPPENED

* Athletics – Sprinter Mali Lovell secured a place in the 100m T36 final by setting a personal best of 14.57sec, but the 20-year-old was well beaten as she finished fifth in the final.

* Archery – Taymon Kenton-Smith turned heads on Wednesday in the men’s individual recurve as he went on a giantkilling run. Boasting green and gold dyed hair and a feather in his cap, the Queenslander knocked over Mexico’s world No. 1 Samuel Molina and world No. 4 Jun Gan of China before losing his semi-final and the bronze medal match to place fourth overall.

*Boccia – Australia’s top mixed pairing of Jamieson Leeson and Dan Michel failed to overcome a slow start against South Korea and fell to a 4-2 in their doubles quarter-final.

*Wheelchair basketball – Less than 18 hours after losing their quarter-final to Great Britain, the Rollers were back in action in their classification match, claiming a 78-74 win over Spain.

WHO SAID WHAT?

“I didn’t come here for silver. If I was a vampire, the amount of silvers I’ve got, I’d be dead.” – Alistair Donohoe after his second-place finish in his individual time trial.

“We copped a lot of s*** in his younger years, so to see him now — winning a medal — stuff youse all. He ya Ricky.” – Ricky Betar’s father, Drew, beaming with pride after his son’s third-place finish.

MEDAL TABLE (after day seven)

1. China – Gold: 62, Silver: 46, Bronze 27. Total: 135.

2. Great Britain – Gold: 33, Silver: 25, Bronze 16. Total: 74.

3. USA – Gold: 25, Silver: 26, Bronze 12. Total: 63.

4. Netherlands – Gold: 16, Silver: 7, Bronze 5. Total: 28.

****

9. Australia – Gold: 11, Silver: 12, Bronze 18. Total: 41.

© AAP

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