Image credit: Paralympics Australia website

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games have been spectacular to behold, teeming with exhilarating moments of close competition and incredible feats of athleticism. This year, Australia is proudly represented by a 160-strong team of talented para-athletes across 17 sports who are eager to bring home the gold, with 61 of them making their Paralympic Games debut.

Ahead of seeing them compete on the world stage, we had the opportunity to speak to four inspiring Aussie para-athletes and find out more about their dedication, drive, and the indomitable spirit that drives them to redefine the limits of human potential.

Mali Lovell, 20, Para-athletics

Despite being diagnosed with ataxia – a rare form of cerebral palsy that affects balance and coordination – as a child, Mali defied expectations by beginning her Para-athletics journey at the age of 12, after encouragement from her family friends. In 2023, at age 19, Mali made her international debut at the World Para Athletics Championships as a T36 athlete, where she finished 7th in the T36 100m and clinched silver in the T36 200m. That same year, she was named Female Para Athlete of the Year at the 2023 Athletics Australia Awards. In 2024, at age 20, Mali competed at her second world championships in Kobe, Japan, completing the T36 200m bronze in a time of 29.81 to score a bronze medal and a spot on the Paris 2024 Paralympics team.

What would you tell your future self if you won a medal?

If I won a medal at the Paralympic Games, I’d tell myself to just be proud, live in the moment, and have fun!

What advice would you give to aspiring athletes?

Just find the sport that you love and stick with it!

What are some key items in your sporting bag?

My key items are spikes, my running shoes, my Powerade to keep me going through the session, and speakers — you gotta have the music. Personally, I love Taylor Swift, but we just listen to pop music.

Chad Perris, 32, Para-athletics

Image credit: Chad Perris and Paralympics Australia

Born with albinism affecting the pigment in his eyes, skin, and hair as well as his quality of vision, Chad only began competing in para-athletics to keep fit during the AFL off-season but quickly fell in love with sprinting. Making his international debut at the 2013 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France, Chad broke the T13 200m national record that had stood for 28 years. In the 2015 World Para Athletics campaign, he won silver in the T13 200m and bronze in the 100m, and in 2016 he went on to make his Paralympic Games debut in Rio where he clinched bronze in the T3 100m. Narrowly missing podium at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with a time of 10.84, he has since achieved a new personal best of 10.65.

What’s your greatest achievement in your sporting career?

The greatest achievement in my sporting career would have to be winning a Paralympic bronze medal at my first games in Rio. I think that's something that I always look back on fondly and even though it was a long time ago now, it’s certainly my greatest achievement.

What inspired you to take up your chosen sport?

I don't think there was anything in particular that inspired me to take up my sport. I was looking for something to do to stay fit in the off-season for Aussie rules footy back here in Perth and so I went down to the local athletics club. I haven't played a game of footy since then, so it was a good decision. There was no real light bulb moment for me to get into athletics, I kind of just stumbled across it, but I’m extremely happy that I did!

What advice would you give to aspiring athletes?

Just to go out and have fun. Enjoy your sport and enjoy your training, especially. It can be a long grind sometimes; we have 4 years between big events and being able to enjoy yourself in that time is something that I personally prioritise, and I feel like it’s helped me a lot in my career.

Col Pearse, 21, Para-swimming

Image credit: Col Pearse

Echuca native Col, whose right foot was amputated at the age of 2 following an accident, has been a naturally gifted athlete all throughout his youth, with exceptional talent in the pool. At the age of 9, Col began his competitive swimming career, and by 16 he had won gold across multiple S10 swimming events at the Hancock Prospecting Australia Age Swimming Championships. That same year, Col made his international debut at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London, winning bronze in the S10 Men’s 100m Butterfly. At just 17, Col competed in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, placing eighth in the S10 Men’s 100m Backstroke, fourth in the S10 Men’s 200m Individual Medley, and bringing home a bronze medal in the S10 Men’s 100m Butterfly.

Who is your Paralympic hero and why?

My Paralympic hero would have to be Ellie Cole. I met her for the first time when I was 9 years old, right after her successful campaign in London where she won 4 Paralympic gold medals despite missing a whole leg. Seeing her medals, how heavy they were, how cool she was, really gave me the desire to go to the Paralympics!

What is something you’d tell your future self if you won a medal?

Enjoy that moment. I think with swimming, we tend to get caught up so much with just training and moving on to the next thing. And for me, when I won that bronze medal at Tokyo, I just really took the time to sit there and reflect and enjoy having that medal.

What advice would you give to aspiring athletes?

Be patient. Going to the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a real process. It takes four years to make a team, so the number one thing is to be patient and stick to the process.

Ella Sabljak, 31, Wheelchair Rugby

Image credit: Paralympics Australia website

Prior to taking up wheelchair rugby in 2022, Ella was best known for her exceptional prowess in wheelchair basketball, with highlights including captaining the Australian Junior Team to silver at the 2015 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship, representing Australia at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, and scoring silver in the 3x3 Women's tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. After making the switch, Ella, who has hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy (type 2) and is classified as a 2.5 player, won her first world championship gold medal at the 2022 IWRF World Championship, following it up with another gold at the 2023 International Wheelchair Rugby Cup.

Who is your Paralympic hero and why?

One of my Paralympic heroes is Bridie Kean. I played basketball with her, and she was incredible. She was everything that I aspired to be like as an athlete. She was prepared, professional, she was always ready for any challenge, and I looked up to her throughout my career. I had a little saying, “What would Bridie do?”, and that little mantra helped me throughout my basketball career. And now, Bridie is our deputy Chef de Mission for our Paralympic Games.

What’s your greatest achievement in your sporting career?

We won the World Championships in 2022 in wheelchair rugby, and 2022 was a massive year for me. Before I switched to wheelchair rugby, I played wheelchair basketball, and I finished my wheelchair basketball career winning a silver medal in the 3X3 wheelchair basketball at the Commonwealth Games. I finished that with my three closest friends, and it was so much fun. I think that was super special because I’ve grown up playing basketball with those girls and I'll cherish those memories forever.

What would you tell your future self if you won a medal?

I’d tell my future self, we did it! We did it, we made it. I don’t think winning a medal is the be all and end all, especially at the Paralympic Games. It would be incredible, but if we were able to achieve a gold medal, it would just be the cherry on top. All those early mornings, the sacrifices that we’ve had to make, putting everything on hold for a sport and to finish the sport with a gold medal, I think it would be amazing. So to my future self, I’d just tell her, we did it! Be proud of all that you have achieved.

Taymon Kenton-Smith, 29, Para-archery

Image credit: Taymon Kenton-Smith

Beginning his journey in para-archery at the tender age of 6, Taymon always believed that he was destined to become a Paralympian. Making a promise to his grandmother, he finally realised his dream and fulfilled his promise when he made his debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games competing in the Men’s Individual Recurve Open and the Mixed Team Recurve Open. Taymon, who was born with a partial left hand, came in first at the Oceania Qualification Tournament in 2023, securing his spot to represent Australia in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Who is your Paralympic hero and why?

My Paralympic hero is Danni di Toro, and the reason for this is because she has been amazing both on and off the field. As you can imagine, the Paralympics is a marathon, it's not a sprint; it's a four year cycle every time. Danni di Toro has done an amazing job keeping the Paralympic mob — that's all of us from the 1960s all the way to now — all together to make sure that we can maintain ourselves as a mob, as a family.

What inspired you to take up your chosen sport?

I’m a half-handed athlete as you can see, and I felt that a one-handed bloke in a two-handed sport would be absolutely amazing at the top-tier level, especially when I win the gold in Paris. Also, I feel that I can help make some great world changes by showing that I can achieve anything that I set my mind to, and the world can achieve anything that we set our minds to as well!

What advice would you give to aspiring athletes?

I’d share a couple of things. One: ordinary things done over a long period of time is how extraordinary things happen. Two: be aware of your friends and family that are supporting you, especially your partners, because they are the ones who will be your foundational rocks that allow you to achieve impossible things.

Westfield centres around Australia and New Zealand are streaming all the action from the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games direct from Paris at our Live Sites! The Paralympic Live Sites will commence on 29 August until 9 September. Head to your local centre website to find out more.