Three years after surviving a horrific biking incident, Australian Paralympic swimmer Alexa Leary claimed her second gold medal in a world record time in Paris on Wednesday.
Leary’s swim of 59.53 seconds in the 100m freestyle final broke her world record in the heats of the S9 category, which includes swimmers with severe weakness in one leg.
The bubbly 23-year-old from the Sunshine Coast was in a coma in hospital in 2021 after sustaining permanent brain and leg injuries in a high-speed bike crash that left her with a punctured lung and multiple broken bones.
Photo: AFP
Her parents, warned several times by doctors that their daughter might not survive, turned to a clairvoyant.
“When I was in ICU [intensive care unit], my dad got a fortune teller and the fortune teller read that I wanted to go to the Paralympics. And I’m here. Oh my God. I did it.”
Leary’s positive attitude and triumph over adversity has inspired Australia, giving her a profile to rival the country’s able-bodied Olympic champion swimmers, Ariarne Titmus and Kaylee McKeown.
Her parents, Russell and Belinda, watched in pride from the stands at La Defense Arena as their daughter claimed her second gold of the Games, having also won the mixed medley relay.
“I wouldn’t be here without my mum and dad,” Leary said.
“When I was in the brain section, my dad stopped working, and my mum stopped. They were in the hospital with me for six months,” she said.
“Dad was constantly at his knees in that hospital every single day next to my bed,” she added.
“Dad will be having lots of tissues in his eyes, wiping his little tears. He doesn’t stop crying,” she said.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS