Australian swimmer celebrates gold after fortune teller prediction
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American silver medallist Christie Raleigh-Crossley (left) and gold medallist Alexa Leary of Australia celebrate after the S9 Women's 100m freestyle swimming event at the Paris Paralympics on Sept 4.
PHOTO: AFP
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PARIS – Three years after surviving a horrific bike accident, Australian Paralympic swimmer Alexa Leary claimed her second gold medal in a world-record time in Paris on Sept 4.
Leary’s 59.53 seconds in the 100m freestyle final broke her own mark 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 suffering permanent brain and leg injuries in a high-speed bike crash that left her with a punctured lung and multiple broken bones.
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,” she said.
“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.
“Dad was constantly at his knees in that hospital every single day next to my bed.
“Dad will be having lots of tissues in his eyes, wiping his little tears. He doesn’t stop crying.”
After earning her historic gold, an ecstatic Leary was transported to another level of euphoria when Network Nine showed her a congratulatory video from Australian music producer Fisher.
“He’s one amazing person and I’ve always got my headphones in, he upbeats me every single day,” Leary said.
“The best song he plays is World, Hold On.
“It gets me going. It gets me in race mode every single time and I don’t know what it is about his music, but he gets me in this rhythm to just go smash it in the water.”
Meanwhile, Nepal gave their first Paralympic medallist a hero’s welcome on Sept 4 as cheering crowds turned out for taekwondo star Palesha Goverdhan’s return home.
Goverdhan, 21, claimed the bronze in Paris, the first Games podium place in history for the Himalayan nation who have also never won a medal at the Olympics.
“I kept my promise, I brought a medal back home. This achievement is not just for me, but for everyone,” Goverdhan said in a speech after her arrival.
Traditional music and an army band played as Goverdhan, draped in the national flag, marigold garlands and traditional Buddhist scarves, emerged to loud cheers at Kathmandu’s airport.
Many young taekwondo athletes were among hundreds gathered to welcome back Goverdhan, who beamed a wide smile and held up her medal.
“I am very happy, very inspired and proud for the country. Her victory feels like our own,” said 13-year-old taekwondo exponent Nandani Adhikari, who was among the crowd at the airport.
Goverdhan, who is studying architectural engineering in China, won bronze in the women’s K44-57kg para taekwondo category when she beat Serbia’s Marija Micev 15-8.
Born with a congenital limb deficiency on her left hand, Goverdhan took up martial arts at school when she was 10 years old. REUTERS, AFP
