Paris 2024: Australia’s First Nations athletes make their mobs proud  

When 16-year-old Australian runner Telaya Blacksmith arrived at her room in the Paralympic Village in Paris, she found a special surprise. School children from her remote community of Lajamanu, in the Northern Territory, had sent her drawings and letters of support. They were excited to see her compete in the 400m T20 and long jump T20 at her first Paralympic Games.

Blacksmith was thrilled and proud to represent her community. “Some of them said they would watch me and try to follow in my footsteps,” she told the IPC.

In the lead-up to Paris, Blacksmith also had a special moment when her hero, former sprinter Cathy Freeman, called her. Freeman, who won gold in the 400m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, offered encouragement and invited Blacksmith for tea when she returns from Paris. Freeman advised her to relax and enjoy the experience.

Blacksmith set Australian and Oceania records in her heat, qualifying for the 400m T20 final with a time of 57.96 seconds. She finished eighth in the final.

Besides running, Blacksmith is also passionate about Australian Rules football and is part of the Sydney Swans AFLW academy. She hopes to balance both sports in the future.

Australia’s Paralympic team features four indigenous athletes: Blacksmith, Ruby Storm (swimming), Amanda Reid (cycling), and Samantha Schmidt (discus throw). The team’s uniforms feature Aboriginal artwork, which Reid, who won gold in cycling, described as “deadly,” meaning fantastic.

The team also held a traditional smoking ceremony and a “yarn circle” to boost their performance, a practice that helped them at the Olympics.

Reid, a veteran of four Paralympic Games, defended her gold medal in the 500m time trial. She’s also competing in other events and aims to join the Winter Games in 2026 for snowboarding.

Storm, from the Wiradjuri tribe, is proud to be a role model for indigenous youth. She won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay and bronze in the 100m butterfly at the Tokyo Paralympics. In Paris, she won silver in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay but did not medal in her individual events.

Watch Blacksmith in the women’s long jump T20 and Schmidt in the women’s discus throw – F38 on Friday.