Talking Vision is Vision Australia Radio’s flagship program, discussing the latest news and issues from a blindness and low vision perspective.
On this week’s episode, Sam speaks with athlete Jess Gallagher to celebrate her two gold medals in the para cycling program at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Jess describes the moment she shared with her pilot, Caitlin Ward, when they realised that they’d put in a really good time and knew they had won the gold medal.
“With all the noise of the crowd in the velodrome Caitlin had tried to tell me a couple of times we’d won gold, but once I heard that time and realised it was the fastest I could throw the hand up in the air and celebrate,” Jess said.
It was a source of great pride and encouragement for Jess to see the Commonwealth Games integrated with able bodied athletes competing alongside athletes with disability, in a win for visibility and representation for the disabled community.
“The exposure that the Commonwealth Games provides really helps educate society and the spectators to realise that para athletes are elite athletes who just happen to have disabilities,” she said.
Listen to the Talking Vision episode on Omny or in the player below:
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