Australian News Today

Double Aussie gold, 246cm giant: What you missed while sleeping

Double Aussie gold, 246cm giant: What you missed while sleeping

PARIS: Australian world records and gold medals, a beautiful poolside moment captured on TV and an appearance by the second-tallest living man in the world defined day two of the Paralympic Games.

Here’s what you missed while you were sleeping.

Aussie cyclists deliver double gold

Australian track cyclists Korey Boddington and Emily Petricola broke world records in qualifying on the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome, then returned two hours later and hauled in gold.

Boddington triumphed in the men’s C4-5 1000m time trial on his Paralympic debut, and 15 minutes later, Petricola successfully defended the gold medal she won in Tokyo, taking victory in the women’s C4 3000m individual pursuit.

Boddington, now 28, acquired a brain injury in a motocross accident in 2011, while Petricola, who’s 44, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 27.

Beautiful moment qualification dawns on Aussie relay swimmers

Every Paralympic Games delivers many moments that melt people’s hearts, and poolside at the Paris La Defense Arena on day two, four Australian swimmers competed in a mixed relay then melted hearts.

The Nine cameras were fixed directly on Grant “Scooter” Patterson, Ahmed Kelly, Holly Warn and Chloe Osborn as they looked up at a big screen hoping they had qualified for the mixed 4x50m freestyle (20 points) relay.

The screen flickered to reveal they had indeed made the cut, and beaming smiles, warm hugs and delightful cheers and chatter followed.

Steelers bounce back in thrilling style

The Australian wheelchair rugby team chalked up its first win of the Games by edging host nation France 55-53 at the Champ-des-Mars Arena.

The Chris Bond-skippered team bounced back in thrilling fashion from a first-up defeat to Great Britain on the opening day, when they fell to the Brits 58-55.

Both matches were typically physical, eye-catching contests.

Watch every moment, every medal of the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 live and free on Channel 9, 9Gem and 9Now. Plus, every event streaming ad free, live and on demand with 4K on Stan Sport.

Iranian giant takes to the court

The second-tallest living man in the world made headlines at Tokyo 2020 and has now made his first appearance of the Paris Games.

Morteza Mehrzadselakjani, an Iranian man who’s 246 centimetres tall and plays sitting volleyball, helped his country to a 3-0 win over Ukraine.

His lives with a condition called acromegaly, which is defined by the production of too much growth hormone.

Help Australia’s para-athletes chase their sporting dreams! Click here to donate.

Morteza Mehrzadselakjani. Getty Images