Australian Paralympic athletes were in action across six sports on the eighth day of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The highlights were gold medals in the pool and on the road.

Swimming

Tim Hodge delivered a dominant performance to win the men’s SM9 200m individual medley in a new Paralympic record time of 2:13.31.

The win added to the gold medal he claimed earlier in the week as part of the mixed 4x100m medley relay (34 points).

“I’m really happy with that result and now it’s time to have a little bit of a celebration with the gold medal…then once the meet is over, my coach and I can really let the feeling sink in,” Hodge said.

Road Cycling 

Lauren Parker has capped off a phenomenal Paralympic Games campaign with the ‘race of her life’ to win the gold medal in the 28.4-kilometre H1-5 Para-cycling road race at Clichy-sous-Bois on the outskirts of Paris.

The 35-year-old’s win comes hot on the wheels of Wednesday’s silver medal in the 14.2km individual time trial and her victory in Monday’s Para-triathlon.

“I am so stoked with that performance today I just can’t believe it,” said a jubilant Parker. “I really can’t believe what I’ve accomplished.”

Shooting

Anton Zappelli’s Paris campaign came to an end after finishing 18th in the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 on Thursday.

Up against the elements in the open-air 50m rifle range at Chateauroux Shooting Centre, Zappelli shot a total score of 616.5 across six 10-shot series, across 50 minutes of match time.

In a stacked field of 35 other competitors, only the top eight qualified for the final. Zappelli said the cold weather that caught him off guard.

“The conditions in terms of the wind were actually perfect, there was no wind which makes it difficult to accept the result,” he said.

Archery

Australia’s archery campaign came to a dramatic close as crowd favourite Taymon Kenton-Smith and Amanda Jennings lost in a nail-biting shoot-off against India’s Harvinder Singh and Pooja in the 1/8 elimination of the mixed team recurve open. 

It came down to the final two arrows. Singh and Pooja held their nerve, delivering the decisive shots to secure victory.

“My arrow went on to the plunger button, which is above the arrow rest, and I aimed off a little bit, but obviously I didn’t aim off enough, and unfortunately, I missed the target,” Kenton-Smith said. “But that’s archery, that’s the sport.” 

Athletics

Vanessa Low entered rarified athletic air in Paris on Thursday night, when she collected her third consecutive Paralympic Games gold medal and broke her own long jump world record in her T63 leg amputee class.

Her first in Rio 2016 was under the German flag, but due to the charm and talent of her Australian husband Scott Reardon – and now her coach - the next two from Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 were won in the green and gold.

“What keeps driving me is trying to be the best I can be,” Low said. “I love pushing myself on the big stage and I think I can jump six metres – I think that’s possible. I want to break barriers.” 

Table Tennis

Sam von Einem has been defeated by Gi Tae Kim (Republic of Korea) in the semi-final of the Para-table tennis men’s singles (MS11) to win a bronze medal at the Paris Paralympics.  

Von Einem showed his fighting qualities throughout the match, overcoming a slow start to draw level 1-1. But Kim went on to avenge his loss to the Australian at the International Table Tennis Federation Slovenia Para Open earlier this year. 

“He was switched on,” von Einem said. “He played very well. I felt like he was very well prepared. He took on my serve quite well.”