Medals, Crowds And A One-Legged Emu Named Bruce 

Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin said every result from the 160 athletes on the Australian Paralympic Team would be celebrated in Paris, so aiming for a certain medal tally was not the intention. 

Australia will compete in 17 of the 22 sports on the Paris program and have a solid reputation in the Paralympic world – from the eight Games since Barcelona 1992 Australia has finished in the top five on the medal table six times. 

In Tokyo, Australia finished eighth with 21 gold, 29 silver and 30 bronze. 

On the eve of competition starting (29 August) McLoughlin set the scene for what’s ahead. 

“I think every athlete on this team comes here with hopes of taking away a medal,” she said. 

“We will celebrate all successes on this team, whether it’s the (61) debutants here for the first time or whether it’s podium athletes, or whether it’s athletes achieving their personal best.” 

More than two million tickets have been sold with crowds back in the stadiums after the Covid-affected Tokyo Paralympics. 

“It’s incredible for the Paralympic movement to see so many Parisiens and Australians who have come to France filling those stadiums,” McLoughlin said. 

“It will be brilliant for the athletes. They can harness that energy from the crowd. 

“From a Paralympic movement perspective, it shows how far we’ve come the fact there are so many people willing to pay money to see these incredible athletes.” 

Co-captain Angie Ballard will compete in wheelchair track events at her seventh Paralympics. 

“The support and the enthusiasm have been great,” Ballard said. “People on the street back home stopped me and said ‘Your Games start on August 28 are you ready?’ and I say ‘How did you know that?’ 

“That (Paralympic) knowledge is so different to what I’ve experienced for a long time. The support we’re getting from Australia makes us all so happy. We’re here; we’re ready; bring it on.” 

Co-captain Curtis McGrath will be defending two gold medals in canoe in Paris. 

“Everyone is very welcoming. Everyone is really happy to see us and is excited for the Games ahead,” McGrath said. 

“We had the warm-up event (Olympics) the other week so now we’re here to show what we’re made of. 

“The arrival of my son a couple of weeks before I flew out meant things were fairly chaotic. It just added another layer of meaning to why we’re here and what we’re representing.” 

One of Australia’s two flag bearers, Madison de Rozario, is reigning champion in two events, including the marathon. She is at her fifth Paralympics. 

“The results from Tokyo were amazing but you have to put them to the side … there’s an entire field of athletes in Paris capable of doing well,” de Rozario said. 

“We’ve all done the work for the past three years since Tokyo so it’s who is able to put the result down on the day.” 

The accessibility of the Paralympic Village, de Rozario said, should extend much further.  

“You walk into a place that’s designed just for you both environmentally and socially, when you come into a Paralympic Village,” she said. 

“Your disability becomes the least interesting thing about you the minute you walk into a Paralympic Village. 

“Being able to experience that here sets the example of what you should expect as a person with a disability in any environment you find yourself in back home or anywhere else.” 

McLoughlin said any visitors to the Australian accommodation in the Paris Athlete Village would have no doubt about where they were. 

“There is a one-legged emu called ‘Bruce’ out the front of our Village – so quintessentially Australian and Paralympic,” she said. 

Watch the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on the 9Network and 9Now live and free, and on Stan Sport from August 28 to September 8.

By: Margie McDonald, Paralympics Australia

Published: 28 August 2024