Australia has secured its first gold in the Paralympics overnight as Tom Gallagher came first in the men’s 50-metre freestyle final.
Gallagher was followed by teammate Rowan Crothers who finished the same race with bronze.
Fellow Aussie Lakeisha Patterson took silver in the women’s 400-metre freestyle. Meanwhile, Brendan Hall claimed bronze in the men’s 400-metre freestyle.
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“Being the first gold medal of the comp means so much for me,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher achieved the first gold medal of his career and Australia’s first for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
“In Tokyo I was a different athlete. I had a lot of medical issues in my pancreas. So after the 400m, I ended up in hospital for about a month and nearly died,” he said.
“I luckily had a surgery a few years ago now that’s fixed it all and I’ve managed to turn into a sprinter.”
Gallagher is from Perth but trains on the Gold Coast. He called Crothers onto the top of the medal dais as the pair sang Advance Australia Fair.
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