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Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Emily Petricola and Amanda Reid hope to spearhead Australia’s track cycling campaign with a successful defence of their Paralympic Games crowns in Paris.
Para-cycling Lead Coach Shane Perkins says there is podium potential throughout the 12-rider contingent that will vie for medals across four days of competition at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, south-west of Paris.
In Tokyo Australia claimed three gold, two silver and one bronze medal on the velodrome to finish second on the table behind a dominant Great Britain that took home 14 medals, including six gold. France, the Netherlands and China were also strong across the track events.
“There’s obviously going to be some pretty stiff competition here in Paris,” Perkins said.
“But, as a team our job now is to provide the opportunity for these athletes to focus on their processes so they can perform at their ultimate best. Then, what will be will be from there on.”
Petricola, in the C4 3000m individual pursuit and Reid in the C2 500m time trial are also reigning world champions and record holders marking them as the riders to beat. Petricola says it’s a privilege to come in as favourite but acknowledges the added pressure that brings.
“I put pressure on myself to perform every time I get onto the track, but what I know is that I’ve done the work, and I can’t control what other people are going to do. Wherever that places me at the end, hopefully that’s better than everyone else,” said Petricola, who contests the pursuit on Friday after what she admits has been a less than ideal lead in due to medical challenges with her Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
“That’s not unusual because you can’t control when it’s going to be ugly, and it has been,” she explained. “It’s been really hard to train as I’ve had a huge amount of really extreme muscle spasm so after every session I’m having to have a lot of physio just to get me to actually be able to go to sleep at night.”
Petricola has also been impacted by neurological symptoms affecting her balance and cognitive skills.
“It affects every single part of what I’m trying to do but I’ve been really lucky with the medical staff we have with our team here,” said the 44 year old Victorian who will also target the podium in the time trial on the road.
“I know I’ve done the work and my body’s trained to do this so irrespective of all of that, I’m here to give my best performances for my country and hopefully come away with two big, shiny gold medals.”
Reid says she is also balancing nerves and excitement.
“I know what I’m here to do and that’s to win,” said Reid, whose 500m event is on Saturday.
“I’ve done the training and I have some very high hopes but I know I can do it.”
Even though Reid won her event at the World Championships in Brazil in March, she admits it wasn’t her best performance.
“It was as good as I had then, and I’ve improved since, so I’m really excited for these Games and I’m focusing on myself and what I need to do,” she said.
Meanwhile, It’s been a bumpy road to Paris for Kane Perris who with pilot Luke Zaccaria will kick off Australia’s cycling campaign on Day 1 of competition.
Kane’s brother Chad is contesting his third Paralympic Games in athletics, but a serious injury curtailed Kane’s hopes of selection for Tokyo and he underwent intensive rehabilitation to recover from a back injury. Then in his world championships debut in Rio in March a crash left him with a shoulder injury, three broken ribs and a punctured lung. On Thursday he will finally make his Paralympic debut.
He and Zaccaria will use the B 4000m individual pursuit to fine tune their preparation knowing their chance of a medal is in Sunday’s 1000m time trial.
“We’ve been through a lot together over the last couple of years and we’ve had some real high moments and some real low moments, but we’ve come back from Rio with this newfound energy and resilience,” Perris explained.
While Perris will debut in Paris, Jessica Gallagher is making her sixth Paralympic Games appearance in a storied career across athletics, cycling and rowing. She was also the first female athlete to win a medal for Australia at the Paralympic Winter Games when she claimed bronze in the alpine skiing visually impaired slalom in 2010 in Vancouver.
Gallagher claimed a bronze medal in the B 1000m time trial at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games but, in Paris with current pilot Caitlin Ward, is hoping to win Paralympic Games gold.
“Not having the opportunity to be in Tokyo because there was no tandem pilot was pretty devastating,” said Gallagher, who saw an opportunity to contest the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and reached out to cycling in the hope of finding a new pilot.
“When I was informed that Caty was interested I was absolutely blown away and I realised we were in for a pretty special ride, because she’s a great athlete.
“At this point in my career, 16 years on, you appreciate where you are and are able to use that maturity and perspective to enjoy the moments when they arise and think back to the times that got you here, the good, the bad and the ugly ones.”
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: Gennie Sheer, Paralympics Australia
Published: 29 August 2024
