These medal hopefuls are ready for the Paris podium

Alexa’s parents were asked to say goodbye to her as she was hospitalised after a horrific cycling accident left her with brain damage. The promising triathlete spent six months in hospital and learned to walk and talk again.

As part of her rehabilitation, she took up swimming. Three years later, at the age of 23, she represented Australia in the 100m and 50m freestyle.

When she took her young son to try archery in 2016, Ameera never imagined it would become her passion. The 50-year-old single mother, who works full-time and suffers from multiple sclerosis, is now at the top of the sport.

She credits her 15-year-old son, Huthaifa, for her inspiration. “He was very supportive and encouraged me to keep going,” she says.

Olympic brothers Chad will compete in the 100m sprint and Kane in the tandem sprint in paracycling.

Nicknamed the ‘White Tiger’ for his speed, Chad, 32, says sprinting has given him back the confidence he lost as a child after being bullied mercilessly because of his albinism, which led to significant vision loss.

Kane, 27, also overcame a serious injury in 2021, but he returned to the track stronger than ever. “I get messages from families of kids with albinism and they tell me they look up to me and I inspire them,” Chad says. “I think it’s pretty cool to be a role model.”

Kane rides a bike while his brother Chad is a sprinter.

At 15, Holly is our youngest Paralympian and at 66, Dianne is our oldest. Holly, who has cerebral palsy, only started swimming competitively two years ago and has been selected to swim the 100m and 400m freestyle.

Describing water as her “escape”, she could swim at just 18 months – before she could walk – as it was a way to strengthen her muscles and improve her mobility.

Dianne started riding at age four and enjoyed a long and successful equestrian career as a jockey and in the show ring. The former Victoria Paralympian of the Year was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and a movement disorder called dystonia at age 62. Her family encouraged her to try Paralympic dressage, and she has never looked back.

Growing up with spinal muscular atrophy, Jamieson resigned herself to cheering on her siblings in their sports, but not participating herself. Until she discovered boccia.

At 15, she started playing and three years later she was the youngest boccia athlete at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Now, at 21, she’s aiming for gold in Paris!

The 16-year-old has an intellectual disability and will compete in the 400m and long jump. Originally from the small, remote community of Lajamanu, Telaya is the first person of Warlpiri descent to compete at the Paralympics.

“I’m so proud to represent my family and show all my nieces and nephews that with a little hard work, dreams really can come true,” says the high school senior, whose role models include Cathy Freeman and Nova Peris.

Anu, 28, wanted to become a veterinarian, but a diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome pushed her to take a different path. The neurological condition, which causes muscle stiffness, involuntary muscle movements and difficulty walking, inspired her to study exercise physiology.

After starting to do sports on the side, she found her place by participating in triathlons and, ranked number two in the world, she is on track to win a medal.

Born with bilateral metaphyseal dysplasia, the 42-year-old was encouraged by her bodybuilder father to take up weightlifting to improve her upper body strength.

Ending a 16-year medal drought for Australia in powerlifting at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, she lifted 127kg – almost 30kg more than her body weight!