The queen of Dunedoo and the king of southern Sydney in search of Australia’s first boccia gold medal.
A rejigged wheelchair basketball team looking to find the right balance of youth and experience.
A rowing juggernaut looking to bring home the first gold medal in their event.
And a groundbreaking wheelchair rugby side lasered in on avenging a rare medal-less showing at Tokyo 2020.
These are the Australian Paralympic teams pushing for gold in Paris.
Boccia: Jamieson Lesson and Dan Michel
Boccia B3 pairs world number one ranked team Dan Michel and Jamieson Leeson. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Dan Michel made his Paralympic debut in boccia at Rio 2016, though it was at Tokyo 2020 that his legend was really born.
He became the first Australian to medal in the sport since 1996, with a bronze in the Mixed BC3.
But it was heartbreak in the mixed pairs competition. He, as well as teammates Spencer Cotie and Jamison Lesson, was eliminated before the semifinal stage.
In Paris, he’ll team up with Jamieson Leeson in the BC3 pairs.
Leeson hails from the tiny central west NSW town of Dunedoo, and only began her boccia journey a year before her Games debut in 2021.
Since then, she and Michel, alongside ramp operators Ash Maddern and Jasmine Hayden, have built a mixed pairs machine.
Numerous titles, including a World Cup win in Montreal in 2023, have propelled the king and queen of boccia to a world number one ranking heading into Paris.
The AIS 2023 Team of the Year are red hot favourites to create history and win Australia’s first-ever gold medal in the sport.
Wheelchair Rugby: Steelers
The Australian Steelers team celebrate at the International Wheelchair Rugby World Cup in Paris in October 2023. (Supplied: Paralympics Australia/Megumi Masuda)
Australia’s wheelchair rugby team, the Steelers, are titans of the sport.
Like the All-Blacks in rugby union or Brazil in football, for long stretches of their existence, the Steelers have been the team to beat.
But back-to-back golds in London and Rio were followed up by a first medal-less showing in 17 years at Tokyo 2020.
The 2024 incarnation of the team heads to Paris with a 2022 World Championship win under its belt and will be quietly confident of re-assuming its Paralympic throne.
The side will be led by wheelchair rugby royalty Ryley Batt and Chris Bond and will feature a record breaking three women, in Shae Graham, Emilie Miller and Ella Sabljak.
Graham made her Paralympic debut in 2021 as the first female wheelchair rugby player to represent Australia at a Games.
Miller and Sabljak have emerged as Steelers regulars since Tokyo, and credit much of their rise to the pioneering Graham.
“She really opened doors for us female players to jump into,” Sabljak told ABC Sport in 2023.
Known for its hard hits and brutal play, the sport once known as “murderball” is always a crowd favourite.
Wheelchair Basketball: Rollers
Australian men’s wheelchair basketball team captain Tristan Knowles. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Australia’s men’s wheelchair basketball team roll into Paris on the back of some stellar form.
Eighteeen wins from 21 matches in 2023 suggests they could be on for a medal for the first time since 2012.
The side features six Paralympic debutants, but plenty of experience anchors the squad, with Shaun Norris and captain Tristan Knowles set to grace a record-equalling sixth Games.
Both Knowles and Norris were involved in Australia’s only gold medal in the sport, back at Beijing 2008.
Remarkably, the two youngest members of the squad, Jaylen Brown and Eithen Leard, were born after that triumph.
Finding the right balance of youth and experience will be key to a successful Rollers campaign.
And that equilibrium will be tested early on, with a showdown against reigning gold medallists the USA looming in the pool phase.
The Gilders, Australia’s women’s wheelchair basketball team, will not be part of Paris 2024. They failed to qualify for only the second time in the team’s history.
Rowing: Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager
Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager are gold medal favourites in Paris. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager are looking to win the first Paralympic gold medal in their event.
The two met in 2017 at an Australian rowing camp, but they only truly formed after it was announced that PR3 mixed double sculls would be included on the Paralympic program for the first time ever at Paris 2024.
And despite 2023 being the pair’s debut season, they certainly made a mark.
They broke the world record by a full 20 seconds, and then broke it again, before they were crowned world champions in Serbia.
All this culminated in duo being named the 2023 World Para Rowing Team of the Year.
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