The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are set to kick off with their Opening Ceremony on the 28th of August. This year, the compelling stories of 160 athletes across 17 sports will form the next chapter of Australia’s vibrant Paralympic story.
- The Australian Paralympic team for Paris 2024 is 56 percent male and 44 percent female.
- 38 percent of the whole team will be making their Paralympic debut, that is a total of 61 athletes!
- The average age of all Australian athletes has increased from Tokyo by about a year, making the average of the Australian Paralympic team 31.3 years old.
Among these 160 athletes, three of them have a special connection to Harvey Norman. Harvey Norman Ambassadors Madison De Rozario and Chris Bond plus Harvey Norman Auburn Flagship employee Rheed McCracken will all be striving for gold at Paris 2024.
Madison De Rozario will be competing in her 5th Paralympic games in 2024. Madi will be looking to defend her Tokyo 2020 Gold Medals in the 800m T53 and the Marathon, while also looking to improve on her bronze medal performance in the 1500m T54 event. Madi also has the honours of being Australia’s flag bear alongside Para-Swimmer Brendan Hall. Madi was quoted saying ‘To get to march into the stadium representing that team, that’s all I want to do.
Make sure you check out Madi’s event times below:
- 800M T53: Round 1 – 1st September 7.06pm | Final – 2nd September 3.04am
- 1500m T54: Round 1 – 2nd September 9pm | Finals – 3rd September 8.20pm
- Marathon: 8th September
Chris Bond is one of the best wheelchair rugby players in the world. On debut at the 2012 London Paralympic games, he helped lead the Steelers to their first Paralympic gold medal. Chris then made history when the Steelers became the first wheelchair rugby team to win two consecutive gold medals and a world championship within a four-year period, with a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. Chris is heavily motivated to bring home the gold at this year’s Paris Paralympic Games.
The Wheelchair Rugby coverage begins on the 30th of August at 1.30am, with the final being played on the 2nd of September at 1.30am.
Rheed McCracken, a team member at Harvey Norman’s Flagship store in Auburn, is set to compete in his fourth Paralympic Games at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games. Rheed exceeded all expectations at his Paralympic debut in London 2012, returning home with a silver in the Men’s 100m T34 and bronze in the Men’s 200m T34. He then went on to defend his silver in the 100m T34 at the Rio 2016 Paralympic games and the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Make sure you catch Rheed competing in the below events:
- 100m
- Heats: 1st September – Australia time: 6pm and 9.30pm AEST
- Final: 2nd September – Australia time: 6pm and 9.30pm AEST
- 800m:
- Heats: 6th September – Australia time: 6pm and 9.30pm AEST
- Finals: 7th September – Australia time: 6pm and 9.30pm AEST
An athlete to watch at this Paralympic Games is 23-year-old Para-Swimmer Tim Hodges. Tim represented Australia at both the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympic Games, where he took home 2 silver and one bronze medal. Make sure you watch Tim go for gold in Paris!
An initiative introduced by Paralympics Australia and Harvey Norman in the lead up to the games was Paralympian of the Week. Make sure you keep up to date with our blog throughout the games to find out more about these spectacular athletes! https://www.harveynorman.com.au/blog/?s=latest+news
Still wanting to learn more about the Australian Paralympic Team? Click this link to meet every member of the team and learn a bit about them!
Meet the Australians set to compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris | Daily Telegraph
Channel 9 will be broadcasting the Paris 2024 Paralympics games, make sure you tune in to see Australia’s most talented Para-Athletes compete for the Green and Gold!
https://www.paralympic.org.au/paris2024/schedule/