Alexa Leary stuns Paralympics with astonishing relay anchor leg to clinch gold for Australia

Alexa Leary has stunned with an astonishing anchor leg to match some of Australian swimming’s greats and help clinch Paralympics gold in the mixed medley relay.

Gold medallist Jesse Aungles, Timothy Hodge, Emily Beecroft, Alexa Leary, Callum Simpson, Keira Stephens of Team Australia pose during the medal ceremony of the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay - 34 Points on day five of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Paris La Defense Arena on September 02, 2024 in Nanterre, France. Picture: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Three years after she cheated death, Alexa Leary has just won her first Paralympic gold medal with a performance so stunning that it ranks up there with the very best from Ian Thorpe or Cate Campbell.

The new darling of the Dolphins Paralympic swim team, Leary showed the rest of the world just why the whole of Australia has fallen heads over heels in love with the bubbly Queenslander’s zest for life after she almost lost hers in a terrifying bike crash.

The ultimate fighter whose parents were told to get ready to say goodbye to their daughter because she may not survive, Leary teamed up with Jesse Aungles, Tim Hodge and Emily Beecroft to win Paralympic gold for Australia in the mixed medley relay.

But it wasn’t just the sweet sound of hearing Advance Australia Fair played at the La Defense Arena in Paris that made this so special.

It was the mind-blowing way that she and her teammates pulled it off.

Swimming the anchor leg, the 23-year-old dived in with the Aussies in fourth place, more than six seconds behind the Dutch, who picked a male to swim the closing freestyle leg and led comfortably.

The Aussies still looked to have no chance of winning the gold even when Leary clawed her way back to second place at the final turn for home but she kept fighting and somehow got herself in front in the final few strokes as the packed crowd erupted in sheer astonishment at what they had just witnessed.

“I knew I had to catch him and overtake him,” Leary said.

Alexa Leary produced a stunning anchor leg for Australia in the nixed 4x100m medley relay. Picture: Getty Images

“I was like, ‘that’s it. I’m going to have to just take this win. I have to.’

“ He was actually a bit in front of me at 15 metres but I caught him. I had to, I just had to do that.”

Mobbed by her teammates the moment she climbed out of the pool, Leary said she was proud of what the whole relay team had done.

“What we’re doing is just incredible. The fact that we’re actually in that war room, we are going for what we’re told we could never get,” she said.

“I think it’s the most inspiring thing ever. I love this team. Our Australian team is so powerful. It honestly is.”

Every member of the Australian Paralympic team in Paris has an incredible backstory but few make the hairs on the back of the neck stand up quite like Leary.

Alexa Leary reacts after winning the mixed 4x100m medley relay. Picture: Getty Images

A talented triathlete who had ambitions of competing for Australia at the Olympics, Leary crashed her bike during a training session in July 2021. She was riding at 70km an hour when her front wheel clipped the bike in front of her.

She landed on her head, breaking her skull, scapula, ribs and leg as well as puncturing a lung. Soaked in blood when her father found her and called an ambulance, she was in a coma when the last Paralympics were taking place.

She nearly died on a number of occasions, and suffered permanent brain injuries, but made it through all the surgeries and rehabilitation and reset her sights on being a Paralympian.

And now she’s a certified gold medal winner.

“I always say you’ve only got one life, so you’ve got to live it to the fullest,” she said.

Jesse Aungles, Timothy Hodge, Emily Beecroft, Alexa Leary, Callum Simpson, Keira Stephens celebrate on the podium after winning gold in the Mixed 4x100m medley relay. Picture: Getty Images

“And I love people out there to move for those who can’t. That’s a big thing that I look at and I go, ‘come on. Move for those who really can’t’. That’s how I see it.”

Her teammates were all delirious with excitement after one of the wildest races seen in the pool.

Still dripping wet, Aungles checked his phone and said it was lit up with messages.

“I’ve had about 25 different people crying,” he said.

“Like my mum and my dad in the stands and my partner. That’s incredible. I’m just so proud of these guys, they are amazing people in the pool and outside.”

A three-time Paralympian, breaststroker Hodge was overcome with emotion after claiming his gold medal.

“It’s just absolutely insane,” he said.

“It was like a dream come true. We were just all cheering on Lex and just thinking, just push, push, push and she pushed all the way to the wall and overcame every opposition.”

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Beecroft, who swam butterfly, said she didn’t think the team was going to win the gold until right at the death,

“I’m literally in shock,” she said.”I knew it was going to be close but I was not expecting to win.

“As soon as I touched the wall, I jumped out and raced over to Jesse so we could cheer Alexa to the finish.

“As soon as she got to ten metres out from the finish, I knew we had it. I knew Lex would be able to carry us home, she’s an absolute beast in the pool.”

Originally published as Alexa Leary stuns Paralympics with astonishing relay anchor leg to clinch gold for Australia