From his death-bed to Paralympics podium: How Tom claimed first Aussie gold medal
Swimmer Tom Gallagher has delivered Australia’s first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Paralympics to cap a remarkable comeback from a near-deadly bout of pancreatitis.
Gallagher powered home through the final throes of the menās S10 50m freestyle final at a packed La Defense Arena to snatch first place with a finishing time of 23.40secs.
The 25-year-oldās surge down the home stretch ensured he held off a chasing pack that included Australian teammate Rowan Crothers, who finished the race with bronze.
Gallagherās gold and Crothersā third-place finish took Australiaās medal tally in the pool to four on day one in Paris following an earlier silver for Lakeisha Patterson and bronze for Brenden Hall.
Success was especially elating for Gallagher, who finished with a bronze in S10 400m freestyle in Tokyo but his pancreatitis caused him so much pain he couldnāt take his spot on the podium.
āBeing the first gold medal of the comp means so much for me,ā Gallagher said.
āIn Tokyo I was a different athlete, I had a lot of medical issues in my pancreas, so after the 400m, I ended up in hospital for about a month and nearly died.
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āI luckily had a surgery a few years ago now thatās fixed it all and Iāve managed to turn into a sprinter.
āPancreatitis is extremely painful, my heart rate went up to 240bpm and all my internal organs started shutting down.
āI wasnāt able to go on the podium that night but tonight makes up for it. ā
Crothers, whose bronze was his fourth Paralympic medal, couldnāt help but admire his teammateās perseverance en route to his first gold medal.
āIāve won that race before but today Tommy did and a bronze medal is dang good,ā Crothers said.
āWhat a storyā¦ I think Tomās such an incredible athlete and heās had to overcome so much.ā
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Gallagher and Crothersās medal double haul helped put a shine on an afternoon that began with a bang but threatened to end in heartache for many of Australiaās medal hopefuls.
Several Australians fell just short of the podium including Alexa Leary, who earlier on Thursday set a world record ā which was surpassed 10 minutes later ā and finished sixth in the womenās S10 50m freestyle.
Ben Hance had to settle for fourth in the menās S14 100m butterfly, while Paige Leonhardt placed seventh in the womenās S14 100m butterfly.
Hall got bronze in the opening race of the afternoon ā the menās S9 400m freestyle ā while Patterson finished with silver after relinquishing her commanding lead to Hungaryās Zsofia Konkoly on the final lap of womenās race.
āI could see her closing in that last 200 and I like a chase and thought Iād be able to get there tonight,ā Patterson said.
āI certainly canāt complain, itās my third Paralympics now and Iāve podiumed at all three Games and thatās a special feeling.ā
It felt like a fitting end for Hallās seven-medal Paralympic career, who indicated this would be his last Games.
The 31-year-old said the medal win took on extra significance given it was the first time his two-year-old son Bodhi had been able to see him compete.
āGive him another year heāll realise what dad did was pretty important stuff,ā Hall said.
āAt the moment heās just enjoying watching dad swim and have a lot of fun and for me thatās the most important thing.ā
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