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10 Of The Best Para-Sport Performances Of 2023

10 Of The Best Para-Sport Performances Of 2023
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Australian Steelers win International Cup

The Steelers’ loss to Japan in the final of the Asia Oceania Championships in July cost them direct qualification to the Paris Paralympics and sparked plenty of soul searching. Just three months later the 2022 World Champions hit back in style to claim the International Wheelchair Rugby Cup in Paris. The win included victory over reigning Paralympic champion Great Britain and a drought-breaking defeat of Japan before the Australians toppled Canada in the final.

Triathlon star becomes Para-cycling champion

We’ve become accustomed to the remarkable Lauren Parker dominating Para-triathlon. In 2023 she went undefeated to claim yet another PTWC World Championship. But Parker’s goals stretched further with plans to also compete in Para-cycling at Paris 2024 – and she’s right on track. In August Parker achieved the rare feat of becoming a concurrent dual-sport world champion when she won gold in the Women’s Time Trial H3 at the UCI Para Cycling Road World Championships in Scotland. Parker also won silver in the Women’s Road Race H3.

Boccia duo named Australia’s best team

It’s been a whirlwind couple of years for the nation’s premier boccia players Dan Michel and Jamieson Leeson, leading to groundbreaking recognition at the AIS Sport Performance Awards in November. The BC3 Pairs team was on a 21-game winning streak, including becoming World Champions in Brazil the previous December, when they were named Team of the Year at the AIS Awards, beating nominees such as the Hockeyroos and Australian Diamonds. Boccia is a highly competitive global sport – Michel’s bronze at Tokyo 2020 was Australia’s first at the Paralympics in 25 years – but Dan and Jam are looking good for Paris.

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Swimming favourite on top of the world

There were several highlights for Australia at the Para Swimming World Championships in Manchester in August. Paralympians Rowan Crothers, Tim Hodge, Katja Dedekind, Ben Hance and Lakeisha Patterson each won gold, as did rising star Alexa Leary and the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay S14 team. However the moment of the meet for many was the sight of three-time Paralympian Ahmed Kelly on top of the dais for the first time in his 14 years representing Australia after he took gold in the 150m Individual Medley S3.

Littlehales finally breaks through

In the Men’s KL3 canoe sprint at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, Dylan Littlehales missed out on a medal by an agonising 0.012 seconds. At the 2022 World Championships, Littlehales finally got on the podium, taking bronze in the KL3. This year, Littlehales’ persistence paid off when he reached the pinnacle, capturing gold at the World Championships in Germany in August. Also at the event, the great Curtis McGrath secured his 11th world title and Ben Sainsbury won gold in the non-Paralympic VL1 class.

Bullseye for unheralded archer

Australia’s Para-archery team returned from the World Para Championships in the Czech Republic in July with an historic first. Ameera Lee secured a quota spot for the Paris Paralympics in the Women’s Compound Open and 2016 Paralympic bronze medallist Jonathon Milne took bronze in the Men’s Compound Open. But the result of the tournament came when relative novice Chris Davis became Australia’s first ever Para-archery World Champion with gold in the W1 classification. Davis, who first shot an arrow just four years earlier, beat the reigning Paralympic title holder in the semi finals and the 2019 world champion in the final.

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A display of immense courage

The substantial list of outstanding results at the Oceania Para Table Tennis Championships in November delivered some incredible storylines. None was more stirring than that of Jessy Chen, who narrowly missed selection for Tokyo 2020 but is bound for Paris 2024 after winning gold in the C4 classification. The tournament was held in the Solomon Islands, which is where Chen acquired his impairment when his family was subjected to a violent racially motivated attack in 2006 before they started a new life in Australia.

Snowboarder turns crystal into gold

After an incredible 2022-23 World Cup season, snowboard star Ben Tudhope won Crystal Globes as the top competitor in both Para Snowboard Cross and Para Snowboard overall. But the three-time Winter Games representative had never won a world championship, instead finishing runner-up in 2019 and 2021. That changed when Tudhope took out the Men’s Snowboard Cross SB-LL2 at the World Para Snowboard Championships in La Molina, Spain in March. Remarkably, Paralympic cycling gold medallist Amanda Reid triumphed in the Women’s Snowboard Cross SB-LL1 at her first World Championship, capping off a memorable event for Australia.

Sprint king reclaims his crown

World record holder James Turner was pipped for gold by China’s Deng Peicheng in the 100m T36 final at Tokyo 2020. Fiercely determined to regain his authority, Turner powered to victory in the corresponding event at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris in July. Earlier, he had won his third consecutive world title in the 400m to depart the event as Australia’s most successful athlete and primed for the 2024 Paralympics. The cherry on top came when Turner was named Male Para-Athlete of the Year at the AIS Sport Performance Awards in November.

Aussie Crew Named World’s Best 

The introduction of the PR3 Mixed Double Scull for the 2024 Paralympics brought Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager together and during 2023 they showed they are the team to beat. After winning gold at World Cup events in June and July and twice setting a record time, they cemented favouritism for Paris with a brilliant victory at the World Rowing Championships in Serbia in September. Ayers and Altschwager were named Australia’s Para Crew of the Year before achieving the extraordinary honour of being announced World Rowing’s Para Crew of the Year.

By: David Sygall, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 21 December 2023