Double delight! Aussie star Lauren Parker wins gold in para-cycling road race – and double amputee Vanessa Low leaps to victory in long jump
- Lauren Parker has now won two gold medals at the Paralympic Games
- Won in H1-4 para-cycling, previously won para-triathlon
- First Australian since Eric Russell in 1976 to achieve this feat
- Vanessa Low also won gold in the long jump T61
Lauren Parker had every reason to be excited after becoming the first Australian since Eric Russell in 1976 to win a gold medal in two sports at the same Games. Her compatriot Vanessa Low’s gold medal is equally inspiring.
On Thursday, Parker (35) won the H1-4 para-cycling road race. He finished four minutes and 11 seconds faster than reigning Paralympic champion Jennette Jansen on a 28.4 km course in the Paris satellite city of Clichy sous Bois.
Earlier this week he took silver in the H1-3 individual time trial and easily won the PTWC1 para-triathlon.
Even more impressive was the fact that Parker suffered from stomach problems after drinking water from the River Seine during the swimming portion of the paratriathlon.
“I wasn’t feeling great,” Parker said. “I was feeling nauseous and stuff like that.”
‘I chose to put that aside, I had a job to do. I just did it.
βIt’s mentally tough to do that, but I’ve overcome so much in my life over the years.β
Parker first turned to para-triathlons after a training accident in 2017 left her with a punctured lung, broken ribs, shoulder blade, pelvis and a damaged spinal cord.
Paralympic athlete Lauren Parker had every reason to be excited after becoming the first Australian since Eric Russell in 1976 to win gold medals in two sports at the same Games
On Thursday, Parker, 35, won the H1-4 para-cycling road race, finishing four minutes and 11 seconds ahead of reigning Paralympic champion Jennette Jansen
Parker also convincingly won the PTWC1 para-triathlon earlier this week
Her compatriot Vanessa Low also won gold in athletics, T61 long jump, after setting a world record of 5.45 meters in her first jump of the day
Low also set a new world record in the T63 long jump in Paris (here she is seen after winning the final)
Now that Parker has competed in two sports at the Olympic level, her future is uncertain and she wonders “what life will bring her.”
Her compatriot Vanessa Low also won gold in athletics, category T61 long jump.
In her first jump of the day, she jumped a world record of 5.45 meters. The 34-year-old German-born athlete now has two Olympic gold medals for Australia and one for her native country.
βOh my God, the tears are coming again,β Low said when asked what it meant to win gold for the third time.
βI think it was a huge relief, and my family played an important role in this journey.
[‘Our baby] Matteo has changed me as a person. I think he has made me stronger both physically and mentally and he has really put things into perspective.’
Elsewhere, table tennis star Samuel Von Einem gave the 29-year-old player his third consecutive Paralympic medal, after winning silver in Tokyo and Rio.
Von Einem lost his semi-final in the men’s singles class 11 3-1 to South Korean Kim Gi Tae.
Australia currently ranks ninth in the medal table, with 14 gold, 12 silver and 19 bronze medals.