Athlete who nearly DIED at Tokyo Games claims emotional first gold medal for Australia at Paris Paralympics

Swimmer Tom Gallagher has won Australia its first gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, culminating a remarkable comeback from a near-fatal bout of pancreatitis.

Gallagher sprinted to first place in the final throes of the men’s S10 50m freestyle in a packed La Defense Arena with a time of 23.40 seconds.

The 25-year-old sprinted down the race straight, holding off a pack of chasers including his Australian teammate Rowan Crothers, who finished the race with bronze.

Gallagher’s gold and Crothers’ third place take Australia’s pool medal tally to fourth on day one in Paris, after Lakeisha Patterson had already won silver and Brenden Hall bronze.

The success was especially pleasing for Gallagher, who won bronze in the 400m freestyle in S10 in Tokyo. However, he was in so much pain from pancreatitis that he was unable to stand on the podium.

“The first gold medal of the competition means a lot to me,” Gallagher said.

“In Tokyo I was a different athlete. I had a lot of medical problems with my pancreas and after the 400 meters I ended up in the hospital for about a month. I almost died.

‘Luckily I had an operation a few years ago which fixed everything and I am now a sprinter.

The victory comes after a near-fatal bout of pancreatitis he suffered during the Tokyo Paralympic Games

‘Pancreatitis is extremely painful, my heart rate went up to 240 beats per minute and all my organs started to stop working.

‘I couldn’t be on stage that night, but tonight makes up for it.’

Crothers, for whom bronze was his fourth Paralympic medal, couldn’t help but admire his teammate’s perseverance on the way to his first gold medal.

“I’ve won that race before, but today it was Tommy who did it and a bronze medal is really amazing,” said Crothers.

“What a story… I think Tom is such an incredible athlete and he’s had to overcome so much.”

Gallagher and Crothers’ double medal win provided a glittering end to an afternoon that started with a bang but threatened to end in sadness for many Australian medal contenders.

Several Australians just missed out on the podium, including Alexa Leary, who earlier on Thursday set a world record (which was bettered 10 minutes later) to finish sixth in the women’s 50m freestyle S10.

Australian teammate Rowan Crothers won bronze in the same race, giving the Aussies a good start

Ben Hance had to settle for fourth place in the men’s 100-meter butterfly (S14), while Paige Leonhardt took seventh in the women’s 100-meter butterfly (S14).

Hall took bronze in the afternoon’s opening race – the men’s S9 400m freestyle – while Patterson took silver after relinquishing her lead on the final lap of the women’s race to Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly.

“I saw her closing in the last 200 meters and I like a chase. I thought I could be there tonight,” Patterson said.

“I certainly can’t complain. These are my third Paralympic Games and I’ve been on the podium at all three Games. That’s a special feeling.”

It felt like a fitting end to Hall’s seven-medal career as a Paralympian, who himself said these would be his last Games.

The 31-year-old said winning the medal had extra meaning because it was the first time his two-year-old son Bodhi had been able to see him compete.

“Give him another year and he’ll realize what his father did was very important,” Hall said.

“Right now he’s just enjoying watching daddy swim and having a lot of fun. For me that’s the most important thing.”