Jenny
Blow

With three Paralympic Games under her belt, Jenny Blow is one of the Australian goalball team’s most experienced competitors.

She first hit the court more than a decade ago at the 2006 Southern Cross Games in Auckland, New Zealand, but after being unable to find a local club to play for upon her return home, another three years would pass before Jenny began playing competitively.

Finally though, fate struck. The Australian women’s coach, Georgie Kenaghan, was presenting to students at the University of Sydney about the opportunities available to children with a disability in Para-sport. Among them was Jenny, who was studying a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Education.

Jenny made her international debut the following year at the 2010 International Blind Sports Federation Goalball World Championships in Sheffield, England, and represented Australia at her first Paralympic Games in 2012.

While the Aussie Belles lost their four preliminary matches in London, England, competing at the pinnacle event for her sport was the experience of a lifetime for Jenny, and one which ranks among her all-time favourite moments.

Incredibly, and long after she had given up hope, the opportunity to relive that moment came four years later in Brazil, when the Belles received an ultra late call-up to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. The Russian team had been banned and the Belles were next on the list.

At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Jenny represented Australia at her third Games where the Belles played their most successful Games with a total of two wins. The team opened their Tokyo campaign with loses to Israel (11-0) and China (6-0). However, a thrilling victory over Canada (4-3) marked the first Australian goalball win since Atlanta 1996. The team then took on the Russian Paralympic Committee to mark the biggest win in their history, winning 4-1. The Belles’ Tokyo campaign ended when they were defeated 10-6 by Turkey in the quarter final.