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The Australian Paralympic Team will enter the second half of the Tokyo 2020 Games brimming with confidence and enthusiasm after numerous exceptional sporting achievements and amid a team culture that is second-to-none.
Australian Paralympic Team Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin thanked Australia’s 179 Para-athletes and 168 staff for all playing their part in creating an optimal high-performance environment, despite challenges an Australian Team has never had to face.
“This has been an extremely difficult campaign to execute, but you wouldn’t know it within the Australian allotment at the Paralympic Village,” McLoughlin said.
“The atmosphere is genuinely awesome. Team members are supporting each other in all sorts of ways, going beyond their responsibilities and all contributing to what is shaping up as a successful Games for our nation.
“The culture of the Australian Paralympic Team is shining through at a time when it’s been severely tested. I couldn’t be prouder of the way everyone has risen to the occasion.”
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As Tokyo 2020 enters the home stretch, Australia sits eighth on the medal table with 13 gold medals, 21 silver and 20 bronze, for a total of 54 medals.
There have been several magical moments, including five wins in the pool, four in Para-cycling, two at the athletics track and two in Para-table tennis, alongside a range of minor medal triumphs and personal best efforts.
Many medal opportunities remain, including in Para-canoe, wheelchair basketball, Para-athletics, wheelchair tennis and Para-swimming.
“It’s been such a joy to see so many of our incredible athletes reach their goals here in Tokyo,” McLoughlin said.
“We love winning medals but it’s not the be-all and end-all. The real successes here are about seeing elite athletes with an impairment setting targets, working towards them over time and then executing them on the world stage.
“It’s about the millions of Australians watching back at home, at a time when so many are doing it tough, and feeling uplifted by the efforts of the great people representing them at Tokyo 2020.”
Australian Team athletes and staff have been buoyed by a wave of support from home. The Team has received thousands of messages from across the country from people from all walks of life.
Host broadcaster Channel Seven’s comprehensive coverage, the biggest ever in Australia for a Paralympic Games, has been met with record ratings and Paralympics Australia’s website and social media channels have been inundated.
Among the highlights of Paralympics Australia’s social media coverage has been over one million Instagram Reels views, a swimming medal gallery post on Facebook which had a reach of more than two million and a goalball story posted on Facebook which garnered more than 11,000 ‘likes’, as well as wonderful support from well known Australians including Hugh Jackman and Jimmy Barnes.
The Games continue until Sunday, September 5, live and free on Seven and 7plus.
