Paula Peralta (Principal Physiotherapist) from our Penrith rooms arrived in Rio on the 31st August after a medical handover with the Australian team and a mini-break to Argentina in between. Below is a recount of her time in Rio: I arrived with the first athletes into the Paralympic Village. We are in a different building than the Olympic team was and it has been reasonably smooth sailing since we arrived. Over the past 6 days it has been a huge privilege to meet so many different athletes in our team that have worked so hard to get to Rio. It has also been rewarding to see the athletes I have worked with over the past few years in boccia, shooting and track and field achieve their dream of being here and strive for that gold medal.
Whilst there has been many amazing performances so far I will single out a few:
· Katie Kelly winning gold in paratriathlon which has made its debut in these Games. Katie’s guide was Michellie Jones who is infamous in the world of triathlon and won silver in Sydney in triathlon’s debut in the Olympic Games.
· Taylor Doyle won silver in long jump yesterday and her infectious personality and enthusiasm saw a number of victory dances in the village on return.
· The cool, calm Sam von Einem won silver yesterday in table tennis in a very close, hard fought match against his World number 1 ranked opponent.
It is difficult to single out a few performances as many athletes have achieved a PB- whether that has resulted in a medal and you cannot ask for any more than that.We look forward to sailing, canoeing and wheelchair rugby starting tomorrow and will hopefully send an update through soon!
Paula @ Aussie HQ
