- Lauren Parker has already won two gold medals at the Paralympic Games
- He triumphed in H1-4 paracycling, previously he won paratriathlon
- First Australian since Eric Russell in 1976 to achieve the feat
- Vanessa Low also took gold in the T61 long jump
Lauren Parker had every reason to be elated after becoming the first Australian since Eric Russell in 1976 to win gold medals in two sports at the same Games, and compatriot Vanessa Low’s journey to gold is equally inspiring.
On Thursday, Parker, 35, won the H1-4 road cycling race, finishing four minutes and 11 seconds ahead of reigning Paralympic champion Jennette Jansen on the 28.4km course in the Parisian satellite town of Clichy sous Bois.
This followed a silver in the H1-3 individual time trial and a comfortable win in the PTWC1 paratriathlon earlier this week.
Even more impressively, Parker competed with an upset stomach after swallowing water from the Seine River during the swimming leg of the paratriathlon.
“I wasn’t feeling very well,” Parker said. “I was feeling nauseous and stuff like that.”
“I decided to put it aside, I had a job to do. I just did it.
“It’s mentally tough to do that, but I’ve overcome a lot of things over the years of my life.”
Parker first turned her attention to paratriathlon after a training accident in 2017 left her with a punctured lung, broken ribs, shoulder blade and pelvis and a damaged spinal cord.
Paralympian Lauren Parker had every reason to be elated 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 Paralympic cycling race, finishing four minutes and 11 seconds ahead of reigning Paralympic champion Jennette Jansen.
Parker also comfortably won the PTWC1 para-triathlon earlier this week in convincing fashion.
Fellow Australian Vanessa Low also took gold in the athletics T61 long jump category, after achieving a world record of 5.45m in her first jump of the day.
Low also set a new world record in the T63 long jump event in Paris (pictured after winning the final).
After conquering two sports at the Olympic level, Parker’s future is an unknown as he contemplates “what life may bring.”
Fellow Australian Vanessa Low also won gold in athletics, long jump T61 category.
Her first jump of the day saw her set a world record of 5.45 metres, and the 34-year-old German-born athlete now holds two Olympic gold medals for Australia and one for her country of birth.
“Oh my God, the tears are coming back already,” Low said when asked what it meant to win gold for a third time.
‘I think it was a huge relief and my family has been a big part of this journey.
‘Our baby Matteo changed me as a person. I think he made me stronger physically and mentally and really put things into perspective.’
Meanwhile, table tennis star Samuel Von Einem secured a third consecutive Paralympic medal for the 29-year-old, who won silver in Tokyo and Rio.
Von Einem lost his semi-final 3-1 in the men’s singles class 11 to South Korea’s Kim Gi Tae.
Australia currently sits ninth in the medal table, with 14 gold, 12 silver and 19 bronze.