Australian long jumper Vanessa Low was relaxed and confident as she stepped onto the runway at the Stade de France during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Just two year after giving birth to her son, she returned to the biggest stage knowing that she would have a big jump in the women’s long jump T63.
In front of thousands of spectators that included her family, she soared 5.45 metres, breaking her own world record in the T61 category. She won her third Paralympic gold medal.
One year on, she feels like so much has happened since the golden moment, but not much at the same time.
“It’s crazy to think we’re one year down from Paris already. It feels like yesterday, but at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago,” Low said.
“I remember lining up for my first jump, and all the pressure just fell off because I felt like (I had achieved) everything that I wanted to achieve, knowing that I had given everything to be there at my best possible shape, and also making my son proud and doing it alongside my family.”
To the top of the podium
The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games took place from 28 August-8 September 2024, featuring 4,400 athletes from a record 169 delegations. Athletes from around the world competed in 549 medal events across 22 sports.
Paris 2024 marked Low’s fourth Paralympic appearance. Low, who lost both of her legs in a train accident at the age of 15, competed for Germany at London 2012 and Rio 2016, before donning Australia’s iconic green and gold track suit following her marriage with Scott Reardon, a gold medallist at Rio 2016.
Low won her first Paralympic gold at Rio 2016 and has won three gold medals in the long jump.
“Paris was my first Games as a mom and I didn’t realise how different the Games were going to feel for me,” Low said. “I always try not to compare Games too much because they are so very different.
“(Paris) didn’t just bring the Games to the city, they brought the city to the Games and we felt it. You felt the culture, and you felt the people being excited about it because it wasn’t just a sporting event. It was showing the sport to the population and making it a part of their story.”
Returning to the Paralympics meant balancing elite sport with motherhood. Low gave birth to her son Matteo in June 2022, and together with Reardon, she navigated the journey both on and off the track.
“I tried to give myself a lot of grace and I always had the expectation I do the best I can with what I have and what I know,” she said. “It was really enjoyable and rewarding, and also really challenging. I think being a mom was probably the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in my life. And I’ve lost my legs, so that says a lot.”
One year on
After the Paralympics, Low says she took time to reflect on her journey and embrace the time away from the gym and the sand pit.
“It’s just really hard for a lot of athletes to return home and processing everything that had happened,” she said. “It almost feels like it’s not your life you’re returning home to because you lived in a bubble and for the last four years, every action of your day was driven by this big goal of going to the Games and all of a sudden, that is done.
“Especially when winning a gold medal, everyone things you are just over the moon and so excited about it and everything worked out perfectly. That is the case, but at the same time, there’s still a lot of mixed feelings.”
Low said she spoke with Reardon and also took time to write down her thoughts after the Games, which she posted on Instagram.
In the post addressing fellow athletes, she said that it is “okay to feel this way” and that “it is natural” to feel lonely. She wanted to remind athletes that the Games being over does not mean that their journey is and to encourage them to be proud of their accomplishments and reach out to each other to talk.
The message resonated with many athletes. It was shared thousands of times, and she received many comments and private messages.
“That was my way of processing it, of getting it out to the world and feeling like it resonated with so many other athletes, both Olympics and Paralympics,” Low said. “They were probably feeling, ‘I’m not the only one.’”
New target: six metres
After returning to the sport, Low is chasing big goals in 2025. She wants to jump six metres and break her current record of 5.71 metres that she set in April this year.
“It might not be this year, maybe closer to LA28. That’s what we’re working on, and I hope I can keep pushing the distance out at every competition,” she said.
Then she is looking forward to the New Delhi 2025 World Para Athletics Championships, which will take place from 27 September-5 October, in India. The World Championships will feature over 1,000 athletes from around the world competing in 186 medal events at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
“I’m really excited for the World Champs. We’ve been working on a lot of things, gone through injury, we’ve gone through it all this year. It’s always part of the journey,” she said. “It’s also really exciting to see the impact of the World Championships happening in India, because I think there is a great opportunity for them to grow and support their sporting team going to LA.”
After the LA28 Paralympic Games, there will be Brisbane 2032. The Paralympics will return to Australia for the first time since Sydney 2000.
“I always say, ‘never say never’, but I don’t think I’ll be there as an athlete. Even if I make it to LA, that’s five Games and as a long jumper, that’s a really great accomplishment,” she said. “But I’m really excited to see what the sport will do in our country.”
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