In her second Paralympic Games campaign, Lauren Parker became the first Australian in 48 years to win gold in not just one, but two sports in the same Games.
After winning gold in the PTWC paratriathlon on Monday last week, Parker had only two days to turn around and compete at two events in paracycling: the H1-3 individual time trial on Wednesday and the H1-4 road race on Thursday.
With arms still heavy from her swim, handcycle, and wheelchair run efforts, the paracycling ITT world champion logged the second-fastest time over 14.2 kilometres for a Paralympic silver medal, her first in another sport.
But it seemed just the warm-up for Parker: the following day saw her move into the front in the 28.4-kilometre road race, ride the rain-slick course solo, and win by four minutes and 11 seconds.
“It definitely wasn’t easy; my arms are absolutely smashed. It’s been a full-on program and I’m just so over the moon with my race today. I can’t believe it,” she said. “I’ve put in a lot of hard work in training and my preparation so I’m just so stoked that it has paid off. I’ve come away with three medals in these Games – and two gold… I hope that I can bring hope to people with disabilities and young kids out there that want to get into sport. I want to show them that anything is possible no matter what disability you have.”
Parker has been named one of Australia’s flag bearers for the Paralympic Games closing ceremony.
