Grace Brimelow selected to represent Australia at 2024 Paris Paralympic Games
A Sunshine Coast schoolgirl has found her place on the racetrack and she’s now ready to show the world what she can do after being selected in the Australian Paralympic team for the 2024 Paris Games.
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A Sunshine Coast schoolgirl will soon compete on the world stage when she represents Australia at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
Grace Brimelow, a Sunshine Coast Grammar School grade 11 student, was born with a rare genetic disorder called Cri du chat syndrome.
The disorder leads to a reduction in strength and physical capacity which for Brimelow, means she is missing the top tip of the short arm of the fifth chromosome.
Despite her setbacks, the 17-year-old has always been a jet in the sporting arena and after trying her hand at a number of individual and team sports, Brimelow found her knack as a triathlete.
“I’ve been competing in triathlons since I was 12-years-old but I’ve also played or been a part of tennis, equestrian, swimming, netball, dance and gymnastics,” she said.
“What I really enjoy about Triathlons is that it’s three sports all combined in one.”
The talented sports star admitted she first had aims for the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games but after a standout year she was fast-tracked into the Australian team.
In February, Brimelow won the PTS4 division of the Oceania Para Championships after being ‘classed up’ the day prior.
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She followed that up with a World Series race in Devonport in early March, giving her valuable points towards qualifying for Paris and then won the World Cup race in Vigo by more than seven minutes which gave her a top five spot in the World Paralympic rankings and an automatic nomination for the Australian team.
Her accomplishments have also stretched against able-bodied athletes as she said her proudest moment so far was when she finished 12th in the State Schools Mainstream race in Hervey Bay which was good enough to have been selected in the Queensland team.
In the past five years Brimelow has rocketed through the rankings, starting in the low 70s before jumping to the mid-60s, 30s, 20s and now into the top 12.
Her mother Simone Pearce said she was a joy on and off the racecourse.
“Grace is a very funny, happy and determined young lady,” Pearce said.
“She is fiercely independent, kind and good-natured and she has a great quirky sense of humour.
“She juggles her training, school and social life with great difficulty, but pleasure.
“She enjoys training and the social side that comes with it as she trains with a great squad of very like-minded people, including her younger brother, who are all very supportive and great company.”
Pearce said she always knew her daughter would represent Australia at the Paralympics, it was just a question of when or in what sport.
“When Grace was 12, she found out about the Paralympics and quickly declared to her swim coach at the time that she wanted to go to and he said ‘let’s make it happen’,” Pearce said.
“There have been so many moments in sport in Grace’s life that have been a challenge or a relative achievement that now I feel like they were all leading her here.
“From all the events where she just did her best and came last, to the opportunities to step up in the big moments, she just keeps on turning up and giving it her all.”
Brimelow, who will compete on September 1, said she was eager for the experience.
“It’s been an amazing year for me and I’m very proud of myself to come this far,” she said.
“I was very shocked to have made the Australian team and I don’t know when it will all fully sink in.
“I’m super excited to head over to Paris, put on my uniform and experience the opening ceremony before my event.”
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