Cyclist Amanda Reid won Tokyo Paralympics and becomes seventh times gold medalist for Australia. She won the Women’s C1-3 500 meters time trial.
With this medal, she broke her record in the C2 classification with a final time of 35.487. Dutch cyclists finished in real-time of 39.002 with a final time of 36.057. It is also the Australian third gold medal in track cycling in the event.
AMANDA REID CAREER
Amanda Reid Career
She has previously represented Australia in 2012 at Summer Paralympics swimming, and in 2016 she won a silver medal in Women’s 500 m Time Trial C1-3.
She is both a Paralympic cyclist and a Swimmer who represents Australia in different events. She competed at the 2011 Global games when she was fourteen years old. After 2012 she started cycling, and at her first major event in cycling, she won the silver medal. She is also a sports scholarship holder from the New South Wales Institute of sport.
As a Paralympian Cyclists, Amanda wants to inspire aboriginal people especially women. She is not only racing for her country but also for her people.
24-year-old Amanda Reid has an indigenous design on her speed suit, and she proudly representing her community. She has an intellectual impairment and cerebral palsy. And she believes her success would inspire other disabled Australians to follow in her footsteps in sports.
AMANDA REID EXPERIENCE
She said, “It means everything to me to be a proud Guring-gai and Wemba-Wemba woman and to represent my people back home, seeing there is only three of us on the team this time [along with Samantha Schmidt and Ruby Storm],” she told Channel Seven after winning the women’s C1-3 500m category at the velodrome in Izu. “So I’m hoping I can encourage more Aboriginal disabled athletes to get into the sport.”
She has shown tremendous sport spirit both in swimming and cycling. She expressed her emotions and talked about her cycling journey.
“I cycled when I was really little,” she said. “I had a little bike and everything modified for me, to help me brake and everything. Then I sort of went into swimming and put that stuff aside.
“In 2015 I found my old cycling jersey. It’s very tiny. I was six or seven when I used it, so it doesn’t fit now. I was like, ‘let’s give this a go, I enjoyed it when I was little, and that’s how it started again.
“I’ve still got it. It’s in my room and I might get it framed. It’s something special that reminded me of starting the sport.”
With her dedication and hard work, she was able to win a gold medal which means everything to her.