Melbourne Park gave returning Olympic and Paralympic athletes a hero’s welcome on Saturday – and gold medallist Emily Petricola had a message for the International Paralympic Committee.
While the Paris Olympics were a celebration of Australia’s all-conquering women, who won the majority of the nation’s medals, Paralympic gold medallist Emily Petricola says the International Paralympic Committee needs to introduce gender equity to ensure greater female representation in the Paralympics.
Among the athletes returning home was parcyclist Petricola, fresh from her record-breaking stint in Paris where she set a world record of three minutes, 35.856 seconds in the women’s C4 3000-metre individual pursuit qualifying, before going on to win gold in the final.“I knew that I’d done the work, and so I just had to let my body do what it needed to do, and then it could fall apart afterwards. And it did, and it was magical,” she said.
Wearing her gold medal, Petricola said the International Paralympic Committee needed to prioritise gender equity. Basketballer Marianna Tolo, who won bronze with the Opals in Paris, spoke of the solidarity between Australia’s women athletes at the Games and the positive experience overall.
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