Lauren
Parker

Every path to a Paralympic Games is unique. There are athletes born with their disabilities who have long dreamed of becoming Paralympians. Then there are athletes like Lauren Parker whose lives have taken unexpected turns.

Lauren was a national triathlon representative finalising her preparation for the 2017 Ironman Australia Triathlon when disaster struck. She was on a training ride travelling at 40 kph when both her tyres blew, catapulting her into a guard rail. Among her multiple major injuries was paraplegia.

Lauren was faced with a question. The very same question that all future Paralympians ask after acquiring a life-changing disability – what now? After some soul-searching, the answer became glaringly obvious – Para-triathlon would be her new calling.

Fast-forward to today and Lauren is one of Australia’s greatest Paralympic athletes and the embodiment of resilience and determination. At Paris 2024, she not only won gold in the PTWC triathlon, but also triumphed in the cycling road race H1-4 and added, for good measure, silver in the cycling time trial H1-3.

Lauren’s feat of becoming the first Australian since 1968 to win gold medals in two sports at one Paralympics cemented her place in history and led to her being awarded Paralympics Australia’s 2024 Paralympian of the Year.

What makes Lauren’s success in Paris even more exceptional is that it was seeded in the agony of Tokyo 2020 when, after leading for all but the final push, she finished runner-up to her American rival by one solitary second. The multiple PTWC world champion hurt badly after that result, but regathered herself and laser-focused on the next Games.

Not content with avenging her triathlon result, Lauren added gruelling cycling events to her repertoire, winning a gold and a silver at the Road World Championships before achieving the remarkable in Paris.