22 August 2024
Next week the world will once again turn its attention to Paris with the 2024 Paralympic Games kicking off on August 28.
160 Australian athletes representing 17 different sports will travel to the French capital to etch their names in the history books.
Among them is a staggering 61 debutants, many of whom the AIS has been proud to support well before they become household names.
Para swimmer Alexa Leary, who holds the world record for the S9 100m, is among nine debutants in the 30-strong Australian swimming team.
Leary was named Emerging Athlete of the Year at the 2023 AIS Sport Performance Awards (ASPAs) for her gold medal performance at the 2023 Para World Swimming Championships in Manchester. It was a tremendous achievement after almost losing her life two years prior from a brain injury.
Joining her in the pool is Australia’s youngest athlete, 15-year-old Holly Warn, who earlier this month received a special send off from her school on the Gold Coast with students creating a tunnel of green and gold to show their support.
The para athletics team also boasts a large number of first-timers including 16-year-old track star Telaya Blacksmith who will compete in the T20 400m and long jump events.
Blacksmith will be one of four First Nations athletes to don the green and gold in Paris. The last time this many Indigenous athletes represented Australia was in Spain in 1992.
The proud Warlpiri teenager is among a long list of para athletes who have received a Local Para Champions (LPC) grant through the ASC to help fund travel to state, national and international sporting events.
Other para athletics debutants who have benefited from the LPC grant include Angus Hincksman, Mali Lovell and Samuel Rizzo.
A high number of rising stars have also received direct athlete support (dAIS) grants through the AIS, set up to help supplement athlete incomes.
This includes Australia’s two para powerlifting champions Hani Watson and Ben Wright. Watson has come up the ranks in just a short time and will be one to watch after breaking an Oceania record of 120 kilograms in the +86 category at the 2021 World Para Powerlifting Championships.
The Paris Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony will take place outside the confines of a traditional stadium, instead being held at the Place de la Concorde and the Champs-Elysées. Australian viewers can tune in from 4:00am AEST on Thursday August 28.