Article courtesy of The Nightly.
Aussie athletes lauded at Sydney homecoming but low medal tally prompts plea for better funding.
Australia’s Paralympians are already plotting bigger and better things at Los Angeles and Brisbane after returning to great acclaim, including praise from the Prime Minister.
Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Governor-General and Paralympic patron-in-chief Sam Mostyn were among the dignitaries present as many of the 161-person team returned to Sydney on Wednesday morning.
“You have done us proud, you had some pretty special baggage to bring home, 18 gold, 17 silver and 28 bronze,” Mr Albanese said.
“We’re proud as a nation of what you have achieved.”
A large gathering of family, friends and media were present at a Qantas hangar to greet the athletes.
Australia finished ninth on the medal table, 63 in total spread across nine sports, with six athletes winning two golds.
The swim team accounted for a bountiful haul of six gold and 27 medals overall, with Alexa Leary, Callum Simpson and Tim Hodge each winning two finals.
Simpson, 17, the youngest male member of the swim team, is one competitor young enough to not only target the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles, but also the following games on home soil in Brisbane four years later.
“I’m looking forward to have a home Games that I can work toward,” the 17-year-old Queenslander said.
Athletics and cycling were other productive sports, with 11 medals won in each.
Lauren Parker’s victories in triathlon and cycling made her the first Australian Paralympian in the 21st century to win gold in two different sports.
Australia finished the Paris Games with its lowest Paralympic medal tally position since 1988, drawing calls for more investment in talent identification and training.
“I don’t know the amounts, but I know that it’s a widespread issue we’re hoping to change with the awareness of para-sport,” Hodge said.
“While the Olympics is the epitome of human excellence, the Paralympics is the epitome of human resilience, and for people at home, they can relate (to that).
“They might see someone on the TV missing a leg or an arm or any other number of conditions, and they go, ‘well, they can do that. Why can’t I?’
“In order to build that Paralympic movement and make sure it endures for future generations … the funding really needs to be there.”
You have done us proud, you had some pretty special baggage to bring home, 18 gold, 17 silver and 28 bronze.
