Endeavour Sports High school celebrates student Telaya Blacksmith’s Paralympics success

A southern Sydney sports school has praised the ‘humility’ and ‘hard work’ of 16-year-old student Telaya Blacksmith after her history-making Paralympics debut.

A southern Sydney high school has praised the “humility” and “hard work” of one their star athlete after she stunned the world stage with a history-making Paralympics debut.

Endeavour Sports High School student Telaya Blacksmith, 16, broke the Australian and Oceania records to book a spot in the women’s 400m T20 final on Monday night with a time of 57.96 seconds.

School principal James Kozlowski said peers and teachers were cheering on the Year 11 student as she prepared for her next event, the long jump, on Saturday night.

“Seeing someone like Telaya go from this emerging athlete, to this young woman who’s representing her country, her people, with such great pride and doing it exceptionally well, you can’t help but feel pride in that,” he said.

“You can’t help but feel that you’ve contributed in some way. Her peers feel that way and I know her teachers and support staff feel exactly the same way.”

Telaya Blacksmith, 16, has been cheered on by her peers and teachers from Endeavour Sports High School in Caringbah. Picture: Facebook/Endeavour Sports High School

Mr Kozlowski said the Endeavour community was proud to be part of Blacksmith’s journey to the State de France in Paris.

The Warlpiri teen, who was born with an intellectual disability which affects her memory, moved to the Caringbah sports school to pursue her sporting dream.

Blacksmith originally hails from the remote community of Lajamanu in the Northern Territory, 900km south of Darwin, and is the first Paralympian from the area.

“Telaya is very talented, but she remains so humble, and I think she’s a wonderful ambassador for our school, for her Indigenous community, and sport in general – she represents all that is good about sport,” Mr Kozlowski said.

“I know when I spoke to her prior to her going she was saying to me, ‘I just hope I make people proud,’ and that is her in a nutshell.”

Despite her athletic prowess, Mr Kozlowski said Blacksmith was a hard-worker as shown by reports she was doing her homework at the Paralympic village between races and training.

Blacksmith ran a record-breaking heat in the 400m T20 class, followed by a strong performance in the final. Photo: Jacquelin Magnay

Mr Kozlowski said the Warlpiri athlete had a bright future ahead with sights set on the Brisbane 2032 Paralympics. Picture: Julian Andrews

Having exceeded expectations in the 400m T20 event – where Blacksmith raced against women nearly double her age in the final – Mr Kozlowski said the school was rallying behind her undoubtably bright future.

“I think Telaya is on a path to greatness,” he said.

“She’s already achieved great success being at the Paralympics only at the age of 16, but she’s got a huge future ahead of her, because she’s got Los Angeles 2028 in four years, and then she’s got Brisbane 2032 potentially four years later.

“Already she has made such an impact on our school over the last few years and I think she’ll be a role model for other athletes to look to.

“That’s one of the great things about the Paralympics – the inspirational stories. Here’s someone who’s providing another inspirational story. Only, they’re one of us. They’re coming back as one of us.”