Get the latest news to your email inbox FREE!

REGISTER

Get the latest news to your email inbox FREE!

REGISTER
HomeIndyAthlete for all seasons

Athlete for all seasons

Geelong-born athlete Jessica Gallagher has done her hometown proud becoming the first Paralympian to win a medal at both the winter and summer Paralympics.
Gallagher won bronze in cycling in the one-kilometre time trial last weekend, riding tandem with pilot Maddie Janssen.
The 30-year-old celebrated the win on social media.
“(I’m) still finding it hard to believe I have just become the first Australian athlete to medal at a summer and winter Paralympics or Olympics,” she wrote on her Instagram account.
“I am so incredibly proud to have fulfilled this dream, to have overcome the unique challenges I’ve faced in transitioning between alpine skiing, track cycling and athletics.”
The medal capped off the historic achievement for the cyclist after she won bronze in the visually impaired giant slalom skiing in Vancouver two years earlier.
Gallagher competed in the long jump and javelin at the London 2012 Games before switching back to skiing for a giant slalom bronze in Sochi in 2014.
She switched again to cycling when long jump was dropped from Rio’s program.
Gallagher also competed in the 3km individual pursuit at Rio, placing ninth in qualification.
With the Rio Paralympics finishing Sunday, Highton’s Richard Colman and Grovedale’s Jemima Moore were still a chance for a medal on Friday.
Moore will compete in the T54 800m on Saturday evening while Colman was scheduled to race early Friday morning in the T53 800m (Australian Eastern Standard Time).
Moore finished 11th in round one of the T54 400m and 100m wheelchair sprint, while Colman placed 12th in round one of the T53 wheelchair 400m.
Ocean Grove’s Sam McIntosh came excruciatingly close to a medal finishing fourth in the T52 100 metre wheelchair sprint in 18.13 seconds.
The 26-year-old finished just behind Americans Gianfranco Lannotta and Raymond Martin, and Mexican Salvador Hernandez Mondragon in the sprint final.

Previous article
Next article
Digital Edition
Subscribe

Get an all ACCESS PASS to the News and your Digital Edition with an online subscription

It’s not over yet

Bellarine emergency services are preparing for another band of warm weather following recent statewide fire outbreaks. It has been a busy week for...
More News

Recovery begins for tourist towns hit by flash flood

Locals have described the "absolute carnage" of record-breaking flash flooding, with cars and more washed out to sea in an extraordinary river overflow. Clean-up efforts...

Emergency centre open following flooding

Hundreds of people have attended an emergency relief centre in Lorne following flooding, leading to many needing to evacuate the region. Close...

Floating into 50 years

Queenscliff Coast Guard is celebrating 50 years of volunteer marine rescue with a free community open day. Community members will be able...

Geelong train line resumes operation

V/Line services have resumed on the Geelong line following earlier vandalism. Trains will not operate between Wyndham Vale and Southern Cross until Friday, 23 January...

Australia Day event cancelled

An Australia Day event that has been operating for more than half a century has been cancelled due to financial challenges and a lack...

It’s not over yet

Geelong and Bellarine emergency services are preparing for another band of warm weather following recent statewide fire outbreaks. It has been a...

Out and about

Independent photographer Ivan Kemp went to Geelong’s waterfront on a cool and blustery Tuesday to see who was out and about.

Great Ocean Road still closed

The Great Ocean Road remains closed to traffic in both directions between Lorne and Skenes Creek due to extreme weather, flooding and possible land-slips. V/Line...

Grovers get the better of Belmont

Independent photographer Ivan Kemp was at Ocean Grove Bowls Club on Tuesday to see the home side defeat Belmont 69 to 53 in round...

Finally some middle ground for our weather

After enduring blazingly hot days last Wednesday and Friday, Greater Geelong has had a cool week. Temperatures have struggled to get much past 20 degrees,...