Alexa Leary to make appearance at AFL grand final at the MCG after Paris Paralympics success

Paris golden girl Alexa Leary is slowly coming back down to earth after her Paralympic heroics, but her return to normality remains on pause.

Paralympics golden girl Alexa Leary is set to make a special appearance at the AFL grand final – a well as meeting two of her idols – as she settles back into life at home on the Gold Coast after her heroics in Paris.

The brave and bubbly 23-year-old swam into the nation’s heart with her haul of two gold medals and one silver at the recent Games.

She was already an inspiration after her incredible comeback from a horror bicycle crash during a triathlon training ride on the Sunshine Coast in 2021.

The accident left her with a traumatic brain injury among other terrible wounds, but she not only miraculously survived the near-death experience but fought back to become a Paralympics champion.

Leary flew home this week, and, in true vivacious fashion, danced along to Kylie Minogue’s Spinning Around as she showed off her medals to fans at Brisbane Airport.

Speaking at her Varsity Lakes home on Thursday in a trademark pink outfit, she told The Courier-Mail she was still in the clouds.

“Honestly, it just hasn’t sunk in that I went to the Paralympics,” she said.

“I’m still trying to process it. I’m still pumped, I’m so inspired by us all going out there and doing it.”

Leary said she was going to have a short break before getting back into training. “It’ll be as soon as possible because I just don’t stop,” she said.

She said there had been a whirlwind of media interviews, and she had engagements lined up that included an appearance at the AFL grand final at the MCG on September 28.

“I’m a Collingwood fan, so I’m devastated they’re not playing, but at least they won the flag last year,” she said.

“My agency has a lot of things lined up, but I don’t have a memory, so I’ll just rock up,” she added with a chuckle in reference to her brain injury.

Paralympic superstar Alexa Leary relaxes at home on the Gold Coast after returning from the Paralympic Games in Paris. Pics Adam Head

Leary said she was looking forward to meeting two of her idols – Gold Coast-based international DJ Paul “The Fish” Fisher and motivational speaker and former athlete Turia Pitt.

She’s a massive fan of Fisher, who congratulated her live during a Channel 9 interview in Paris after she broke her own 100m freestyle world record to win the S9 Paralympics gold medal.

“Alexa, you absolute legend!” he told her.

Leary said she couldn’t wait to meet Fisher in the flesh when he returned to the Gold Coast from gigs in Europe and the US later this year.

She said she was also looking forward to meeting Pitt, who survived horrific burns in a bushfire during an ultra-marathon in the Kimberleys in 2011 and went on to become a leading motivational speaker.

“We’ve messaged each other, and she’s such an inspiring person,” Leary said.

“We’re both fighters, and I just love her story.”

Paralympic superstar Alexa Leary is back on the Gold Coast. Pics Adam Head

Originally published as Alexa Leary to make appearance at AFL grand final at the MCG after Paris Paralympics success