When the last Paralympic Games were on in Tokyo, Alexa Leary would have had little knowledge they were taking place as she recovered from a near-fatal bike crash. Three years later, at La Défense Arena in Paris, Leary produced the anchor leg of her life to claim gold for Australia in the 34-point mixed 4x100m medley relay.

Trailing in fourth and 6.28 seconds behind leaders Netherlands when she replaced Emily Beecroft in the pool for the final leg, Leary careered through her first 50m to move Australia into second spot. When the 23-year-old turned at the wall, she had cut the Dutch lead to 2.94 seconds. And in the final stretch Leary moved past Thijs van Hofweggen to seal victory.

Jesse Aungles and Tim Hodge swam the opening legs with Callum Simpson and Keira Stephens, who performed in the heat, also earning a spot on the podium.

“I was watching us, and I was like, ‘come on, come on’…I was like, ‘I’m going to have to weapon myself out here, we’ve got to take home the gold’,” Leary said. “I knew I had to catch [Van Hofweggen], I’m going to have to overtake him. I could see him, and I was like, ‘I just have to take this win.’ I just had to. He was actually a bit in front of me at 15 metres, but I caught him. I just had to.”

The win netted Australia’s 12th swimming medal of the Games. In the crowd to witness Leary’s first Paralympic gold medal were parents Russ and Belinda. Not long before the Tokyo Games took place, doctors had informed Leary’s parents that they should prepare to say their goodbyes after their daughter fell off a bike while going at 70kmh.

Once considered a promising triathlete, Leary spent several months in intensive care and returned to competitive sport through swimming. Three years on, Leary defied the odds once more and clinched gold.

“I’m still in shock,” Beecroft said. “Coming into tonight, I knew it was going to be so close, but I was honestly not expecting to win. “It’s unbelievable… She [Leary] was unbelievable.”