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Australian Paralympian and bike crash survivor Alexa Leary led her country to a stunning relay gold medal in the pool on Monday evening, thanks to an anchor leg that will be remembered for a long time.

Just over three years after doctors told Leary’s family she would not survive following a horrific accident during triathlon training, the Queenslander completed an epic final two laps of the mixed 4x100-metre medley relay (34 points) to secure her first Paralympic gold medal.

After strong performances from Jessie Aungles, Timothy Hodge, and Emily Beecroft, Leary dived into the pool at the La Defense Arena in Paris with Australia in fourth position.

She was 6.

28 seconds and 15 meters behind Dutch swimmer Thijs van Hofweegen, who has a physical impairment.

What followed was 100 meters of the most exhilarating freestyle you will ever see as Leary, who has an intellectual impairment, overtook van Hofweegen in the last lap to touch the wall first.

Leary looked as shocked as anyone given the ground she had to make up and celebrated wildly when her teammates told her she had pulled off the impossible.

It brought back memories of Ian Thorpe overtaking American Gary Hall Jr.

in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay on the first day of the Sydney Olympics.

“I was like, ‘I’m just going to have to do it myself.

We need to take the gold,” Leary said afterwards.

“I knew I had to catch [van Hofweegen], I’m going to have to overtake him.

I could see him and I was like, ‘I just have to take this win.

’ I just had to.

I caught him.

I just had to.

We have the best team ever.

” Hodge, who picked up his first Paralympic gold medal, added: “It’s an insane feeling.

We’re still coming to terms with it.

Just absolutely insane.

It’s an honor to be part of the team.

” The win caps one of the most heartwarming stories of the Paralympics about a young woman who wasn’t expected to live.

Leary’s parents, Russ and Belinda, were in the stands cheering on their daughter and were overcome with emotion given what they have been through.

In July 2021, they received the news every parent dreads.

On eight separate occasions, Leary’s parents said goodbye to their daughter in the hospital after a shocking crash – she came off the bike at 70 km/h – that left her fighting for her life.

Leary’s ribs, skull, and scapula were all broken.

She also had a punctured lung and a shattered leg.

Russ didn’t recognize his daughter when he pulled up behind the crash, so bad was her condition.

A fellow cyclist rode up the hill to get phone reception and call triple zero.

A doctor happened to be on the scene and moved Leary into a position so she could breathe.

It saved her life.

She underwent life-saving surgery that night and lived to tell the tale, only after 111 days in the hospital with her parents by her side.

“Simply sensational.

Unbelievable.

Everyone is in disbelief.

We thought the Netherlands was untouchable, but we knew we had a secret weapon in our arsenal and her name is Alexa Leary.

”