3 minute read
Australia has delivered its worst medal haul at a Paralympic Games since 1980 despite some stirring performances on the track and with the bike.
HOW AUSTRALIA FARED AT THE 2024 PARIS PARALYMPICS:
FINAL DAY'S MEDALS
SILVER
Madison de Rozario (athletics, T54 marathon) - Unable to catch the dominant force that is Switzerland's Catherine Debrunner and retain her crowd, de Rozario finished second, capturing her eighth Paralympic medal and claiming the only Australian medal on the final day of action.
HITS FROM PARIS
Lauren Parker - Parker buried the pain of missing triathlon gold in Tokyo and became the first Australian to win golds in multiple sports in 48 years.
Alexa Leary - Leary's comeback from a near-fatal bike crash three years ago was capped by a dominant performance in the pool as her family fought back tears.
James Turner - After being whacked by a nasty bout of glandular fever in May, Turner responded with two impressive gold medal wins, in the T36 100m and 400m.
Eye towards Brisbane 2032 - The emerging members of Australia's track and field may have collected few medals but they made an impression with an eye on the future. Rhiannon Clarke, Telaya Blacksmith and Annabelle Colman all look like strong medal chances in the coming years.
MISSES FROM PARIS
Medal table - In medals won, this was Australia's worst Paralympic performance since the 1980 Games in Arnhem, when 12 gold, 21 silver and 22 bronze medals were collected. In the final table, the ninth-placed finish was the lowest Australia have come since the Seoul Games in 1988, when they ranked 12th.
Parisian infrastructure - Good luck if you went to the French capital and relied on a wheelchair to get around. Most metro stations still don't have lifts. Roadblocks around venues meant that if you wanted to get a taxi, or rideshare home from a venue, you had to make your way to a pick-up point.
Stadium dramas - If Brisbane's organisers want to take any advice from Paris it would be to build the Games with the Paralympics in mind first. Athletes complained of tight corridors, limited warm-up spaces and minimal lift capacity at venues.
FINAL MEDAL TABLE
1. China - Gold: 94, Silver: 76, Bronze 50. Total: 220.
2. Great Britain - Gold: 49, Silver: 44, Bronze 31. Total: 124.
3. USA - Gold: 36, Silver: 42, Bronze 27. Total: 105.
4. Netherlands - Gold: 27, Silver: 17, Bronze 12. Total: 56.
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9. Australia - Gold: 18, Silver: 17, Bronze 28. Total: 63.
WHERE DID AUSTRALIA'S MEDALS COME FROM?
SWIMMING - Gold: 6, Silver: 8, Bronze 13.
CYCLING - Gold: 4, Silver: 4, Bronze 3.
ATHLETICS - Gold: 3, Silver: 2, Bronze 6.
TABLE TENNIS - Gold: 2, Bronze 3.
PARACANOEING - Gold: 1, Silver: 1, Bronze 1.
ROWING - Gold: 1, Bronze 1.
TRIATHLON - Gold: 1.
BOCCIA - Silver: 2.
WHEELCHAIR RUGBY - Bronze 1.
TOTAL: 63
