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Even by her standards, it was an extraordinary performance from the 31-year-old, who was born and competed for Germany before switching nationalities when she married Australian Paralympic sprinter Scott Reardon.

“This is a very special one. I know Rio was my first gold but being able to do this experience alongside my husband and being able to do it on the day with Scott by my side, having a familiar face in the crowd, was so special and I am so very grateful for this opportunity,” Low told Channel 7.

“When we first met each other we immediately had that emotional connection and I think that is something very rare to find. We really support each other through the bad and the good.

“Having him by my side and having the ability to feed off each other’s energy is so amazing and I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him.”

Reardon was watching from the stands and greeted his wife with a hug after she won.

“There’s no words actually,” Reardon said.

“She’s competed at Worlds for Australia but to see her in Australian colours at the Paralympic Games and seeing her so calm and collected doing what she does best, I’m proud.”

Low already held the world record at 5.07m for Class 61, and had won the gold medal at the last Paralympics in Rio while representing her birth land, but on a wet night at the Tokyo Olympic stadium she just kept leaping further and further.

A double above the knee amputee after being hit by a train when she was a teenager, she broke the record on her second jump when the tape measured 5.16m.

Then she broke it again on her fifth jump, soaring 5.20m, before touching the sand.

Assured of the gold before her final leap, she managed to break it again, jumping 5.28m to secure Australia’s 17th gold medal in Japan and third in athletics.

“If people randomly met me in the street they would never think to themselves she’s been given this incredible opportunity,” Low said.

“But somehow when they see me on top of a podium competing here in front of a world stage, all of a sudden people can sense the empowerment we are giving ourselves over whatever has happened to us and that’s something that is so special about the Paralympic Games.”

Originally published as Tokyo Paralympics 2021: Australian Vanessa Low wins gold in long jump

The Aussies have won an astonishing 12 medals in a single day – taking the team total to a massive 54 medals – with five days of competition still to go.

Six medals came from the road cycling team while our swimmers and athletes provided three each.

And there’s plenty more coming because Dylan Alcott is through to the singles and doubles finals in wheelchair tennis.

CYCLING

South Australia’s Darren Hicks, won the 24 km C2 time trial at Fuji International Speedway.

The win gave the one-legged former truck driver his first Paralympic gold medal after he had earlier won a silver in track cycling.

“I’ve been dreaming of that for five years, maybe longer. I’m still a bit lost,” Hicks said.

Carol Cooke – who turned 60 less than four weeks ago – took silver in the women’s T1-T2 time trial.

She became the second oldest Australian woman to get on the podium at the Paralympics.

Emily Petricola, who lapped her opponent in the final of the individual pursuit to win gold on the track last week, took silver after finishing just 10 seconds behind American Shawn Morelli.

Meg Lemon won the bronze in the same race.

Paige Greco also won a bronze medal in the women’s C1-C3 time trial after taking gold on the track last week.

Alistair Donohoe won a bronze in the men’s Class 5 race.

The Aussies have won 12 medals in cycling, including track, and still have three days of road racing left.

SWIMMING

Grant “Scooter” Patterson won a silver medal in 50m breaststroke, giving him his second Paralympic medal in Tokyo.

“To come away with a bronze and a silver at this comp is pretty special,” he said.

“I’ve been looking for a Paralympic medal for 13 years so to have a bronze and a silver, I’m over the moon.

“The Paralympics happen every four years, but this one is even more special because you have to wait an extra year, so five.”

Col Pearse won a bronze medal in 100m butterfly.

“It’s been a hard 18 months, with all the lockdowns. So to finally get on the podium at the Paralympics, it’s just everything,” he said.

I still can’t just put words together, how I’m feeling right now, it’s just incredible. It’s a childhood dream come true. Makes it all worth it, training every day for the past 18 months, during lockdown, not taking a day off. It’s worth it. “

Jasmine Greenwood, 16, won a silver medal in the women’s 100m butterfly, with the 16 year old just missing the gold on the touch at the wall.

“This morning I was feeling very nervous for this race because we didn’t get to do a heat. It was a straight final and I think everyone was a bit nervous,” she said.

“I went into it (the final) knowing I had done a lot of hard work, and it paid off. I am very pleased.”

ATHLETICS

James Turner blitzed his rivals to win the T36 class 400m gold in a Paralympic Games’ record time of 52.80 seconds. He also won gold in the 800m at Rio in 2016.

“I was part of the Australian Paralympics seven-a-side team from age 15 to 20. It’s been really hard being away from them but they are all supporting me. I’ve had messages from them, and it’s great,” he said.

“I actually got a call from athletics saying, ‘Hey, you used to run 800m and your classification changed in football. Do you want to give it a go and see if you can make Rio?.’

“I thought, I might as well give it a shot, what’s the worst that can happen? Here I am today.”

Jaryd Clifford won a bronze medal in the 1500m run for visually impaired athletes.

Runner-up in the 5000m, the 22-year-old still has the marathon to come.

“I knew the 1500m was going to be the toughest event here,” he said.

“Because the 800m has been taken off the Paralympic program, the 1500m is stacked with guys who are extremely good runners.

“I would have liked to have gone quicker. I’m the world record holder but they’re only a second behind me, and if I lead it out, they’ll sit on me and they’re quick enough to do that.”

Madi de Rozario won a bronze in the 1500m wheelchair after winning gold in the 800m on the weekend.

Originally published as Tokyo Paralympics 2021: 60yo claims Aussies’ 50th Tokyo Paralympics medal, James Turner and Darren Hicks win gold

Ma Lin has emerged as one of Australia’s brightest stars in Tokyo because of his brilliant performances with the paddle and his incredible tale of survival that has endeared him to his new homeland.

Virtually unknown in Australian sporting circles despite being one of the best para table tennis players in the world, Ma Lin lost his right arm when he was just five years old when it was bitten off by a brown bear at a zoo in China.

He now calls Australia home and has delivered a medal at his first big international competition after going down to Belgian Laurens Devos in the Class 9 individual men’s final at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.

Australia has only ever won two gold medals in Paralympic table tennis – one each in 1964 and 1984 – but still has a great chance with three other Aussies through to gold medal matches in Tokyo.

When he moved to Australia after the 2016 Rio Paralympics, Ma Lin brought two of his closest Chinese friends – Yang Qian and Lei Lina – who also happen to be international stars of the sport.

Yang Qian takes on Brazil’s Bruna Alexandre in Class 10 on Monday immediately after Lei Lina faces her former Chinese teammate Guiyan Xiong in Category 9.

And there’s more.

Sam von Einem – who ended Australia’s 32 year drought when he won a silver medal in Rio in 2016, is through to Sunday’s C11 men’s final, where he will take on Hungarian world No. 1 Peter Palos.

The South Australian made it through to the gold medal decider after an astonishing comeback against Florian Van Acker, the Belgian who beat him in five sets in the Rio final.

Von Einem had lost all of his previous eight matches against van Acker and seemed to be staring at another defeat after dropping the first two sets only to storm back and win the next three.

“I‘m over the moon. To get over van Acker was something that I had been trying to do for so long and now that I’ve done it, it’s unbelievable,” he said.

“After those two first games I just thought that I had to reset and take one point at the time. I think I did it really well, the match finally started to come my way and I got away with the win.”

Originally published as Tokyo Paralympics 2021: Bear attack survivor Ma Lin wins table tennis silver medal for Australia

After the Taliban swept into power once again following the announcement that the US would withdraw from Afghanistan after 20 years of occupation, horrific images from the rapidly developing humanitarian crisis have been beamed across the world.

While the Taliban has attempted to go on a charm offensive and promised that it would protect the rights of women, it appears to be little more than lip service.

Women have reportedly been killed for not wearing a burqa and are afraid to leave their homes.

Taliban fighters have reportedly gone door to door to search for female journalists and the families of those who aided the US and its allies during the two decade occupation.

The crisis also saw Afghanistan’s Paralympic team forced to withdraw from the Tokyo Games last week because they were trapped in the country.

While there were just two athletes who were set to compete — taekwondo competitor Zakia Khudadadi and discus thrower Hossain Rasouli — neither were able to join their fellow athletes in Tokyo.

Khudadadi, 23, was to be the first woman ever to represent Afghanistan at the Paralympics and said in a video last week that she was “imprisoned inside the house” in the nation’s capital Kabul.

But the IPC confirmed on Monday that with the Taliban takeover, the two athletes would no longer be able to travel to Japan.

“Regrettably NPC (National Paralympic Committee) Afghanistan will no longer participate in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games,” IPC spokesman Craig Spence said.

“Due to the serious ongoing situation in the country, all airports are closed and there is no way for them to travel to Tokyo.”

But while Afghanistan was not represented by its athletes, its flag was flown during the athlete parade with a Tokyo volunteer waving the flag.

The president of the International Paralympic Committee Andrew Parsons revealed the touching tribute on Monday.

“We will include the Afghanistan flag in the ceremony in a sign of solidarity,” Parsons said.

“It is important to highlight that as it is a message of solidarity and peace that we send to the world.

“We would like to have them here, unfortunately it is not possible, but they will be here in spirit.”

Last week, Parsons revealed that the International Paralympic Committee had no means with which to bring the athletes to the Games.

He was also criticised for the comments by Afghanistan’s chef de mission Arian Sadiqi who told Kyodo News that he was “disappointed and devastated” that nothing had been done by the international community to help them.

“The situation is getting worse by the hour and time is of the essence. We have to find a way to get our athletes out,” Sadiqi said.

“This will be recorded in the history that the world just watched the news but didn’t help the Paralympic athletes from Afghanistan,”

The Australian team, which comprises a record 179 athletes plus officials, was represented by just three people: the joint flag-bearers Danni Di Toro and Ryley Batt, plus the chef de mission Kate McLoughlin, who made the difficult call that the rest of the team would watch the ceremony from the Village.

New Zealand decided not to march at all, saying they were not willing to take any risk of anyone getting infected.