A 25-strong New Zealand team will be hunting for gold when the Paralympics start in Paris on Thursday.
Kayla Hodge highlights five Kiwi athletes to watch in the coming weeks.
Anna Grimaldi celebrates after winning long jump silver at the world para athletics championships in Kobe earlier this year. PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES
Anna Grimaldi
Heading to her third Paralympics is sure to be unforgettable for Grimaldi.
Grimaldi will also compete in the 100m and 200m. She won consecutive bronze medals in the 100m at the world championships, so watch for her form in that distance.
In what was already set to be a special Games for her, Grimaldi has been selected as New Zealand’s opening ceremony flag bearer alongside Cameron Leslie.
Cameron Leslie
After skipping the Tokyo Paralympics, swimmer Cameron Leslie has the fire in the belly to go again.
Leslie has three gold medals in the SM4 150m IM from Beijing, London and Rio — and set the world record — and that form has continued in recent years. He won gold and three silvers at the world para swimming championships last year and won four medals, including gold in the 50m backstroke, at the event earlier this year, despite being sick in the buildup.
Those medals could keep coming for the 34-year-old, who has four swimming events Paris, the most of any Kiwi Paralympian at the Games.
Holly Robinson
Robinson is no stranger to the Paralympics as she prepares for her fourth Games — but things will be different this time.
The Dunedin thrower will aim to defend her F46 javelin title and also search for a secondary medal in the shot put, which returned to her classification in the past 18 months.
She won consecutive shot put silvers at the world championships and placed fourth in the javelin in 2023. Her history at the Paralympics, winning silver in Rio and gold in Tokyo, speaks for itself.
Robinson skipped javelin earlier this year due to a calf complaint, but is tracking well to medal in both events.
Nicole Murray
Since making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo, Murray has put her pedal to the metal.
The C5 cyclist, who placed fourth in the individual track pursuit and sixth in the track time trial, road race and road time trail in Tokyo, was named the world’s best female summer para athlete for 2023. She won four road world cup medals and three track world championship medals last year.
Murray is in some form after winning gold in the elimination race, silver in the ominium and individual pursuit, and bronze in the 500m time trial and scratch race at the para cycling track world championships in Rio earlier this year.
Michael Johnson
Johnson is on target for another big Games.
The shooting para sport stalwart is in line for a record-equalling sixth Paralympics for New Zealand, a remarkable feat for the 50-year-old.
Johnson won gold in Athens in 2004 with a world record score in the R4 mixed air rifle standing SH2 event, and claimed bronze in 2008 and 2021.
He looks strong heading to Paris, having won silver at the world shooting sport New Delhi world cup in the R4 air rifle standing event.
If competing himself is not enough, Johnson is passing his knowledge on to the next generation. He will coach and mentor Kiwi team-mate Neelam O’Neill, making her Paralympic debut, in the R3 mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1 and the P2 women’s 10m air pistol SH1 in Paris.
