Lauren Parker, warrior on wheels, knocks over another medal

Lauren Parker is on a road less travelled, grabbing along the way her second medal of a peerless and fearless Games ­campaign.

Lauren Parker of Team Australia on her way to silver in the cycling time trial. Picture: Getty Images.

Lauren Parker is on a road less travelled. In the cycling time trial at the Paris Paralympics. In life. She grabs her second medal of a peerless and fearless Games ­campaign.

Parker’s silver in the H1-3 category on Wednesday came from a spectacular cannonball run around a gruelling 14.1km course at Clichy-sous-Bois.

Her triathlon victory earlier this week took an hour plus small change of hard, grinding, groaning yakka. Comparatively, this was over in the blink of an eye – 24min24.09sec – but the effort was equally explosive and ­exhausting.

Flat on her back, feet strapped in, neck aching and craning, arms pumping, shoulders burning, she had the feeling of rowing a boat a thousand miles, and then a thousand more.

In her para-cycling debut, Parker was beaten for gold by American Katerina Brim’s 24.14.59. The former elite Australian triathlete left paraplegic by a catastrophic high-speed cycling accident in 2017 beat defending Germany’s defending Paralympic champion Annika Zeyen-Giles for silver.

She’ll chase a third medal in the road race on Thursday. Absolutely peerless, completely fearless, to embark on the pursuit of three podium finishes in four days across two sports.

On yer bike. She hit an average speed of 40km/h. Without an ­engine. She’s the engine.

She slogged uphill. Zoomed downhill like she was riding a billy­cart without brakes.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Parker is the toughest sportswoman in Australia. She’s described her constant neuropathic pain as “razor blades cutting” her up, “burning alive” and “being eaten alive by acid”.

One gold, one silver. Warrior on wheels. “It feels so good to come away with another medal,” she said. “If only I had the extra nine seconds in me, but I couldn’t have done anything more. I put it all out there on the race course and I’m proud of what I’ve done.”

It’s been 44 years since an Australian para-athlete has claimed medals in different sports. “Unbelievable,” she said. “I really can’t believe I’ve been able to do that.

“It’s been a goal of mine to try to do both sports. I was knocked back when I wanted to do it in Tokyo but I’ve done it today.

“I’ve been through a lot over the last three years and to be able to be here, representing Australia, putting everything I have into the race and coming away with the ­silver medal – you know, I’m happy with that.”

A serious cycling crash in training this year jeopardised Parker’s Games. She sustained serious back and neck injuries on the same bike she rode at Clichy-sous-Bois. Which could have spooked her. “Yeah, I’m proud to have gotten through that and to have two Paralympic medals so far,” she said. “It’s been a mental game, to get through that accident.

“Every single day I’ve been pushing myself through training. It’s been a mental battle to be here and achieve what I’ve achieved so far. Two down, one to go.”

I cannot think of another athlete who’s travelled a rode like this. Personally and professionally. “Got the road race tomorrow and that will be another tough one,” she said. “It’s a really tough course but that suits me. I love a challenging course. It has a bit of everything. Cobblestones, hills, undulations, flat sections, forest sections. It’s such a challenge and I love it.”