Teen’s world record gold at Paralympics

It was Patterson’s first ever Paralympics and she made an impressive debut cutting 0.11 off the previous record, held by Jessica Long from the USA who got the silver.

It was a statement triumph for the Queenslander over the 12-time gold medallist. “I knew it was going to be tough, but I have come away with a silver”.

A gracious victor, Patterson, who is nicknamed “Lucky”, said it felt a bit bitter sweet to take the record off the 2012 Paralympic champion and her idol.

She also paid tribute to the 24-year-old Long, saying “she’s been my idol and to be able to race alongside her and finish on top is fantastic… she said she was really proud of me”.

“I did not think my first Games would end up like this”.

But with one final surge, she was able to touch the wall and set a new world record with a time of 4:40:33.

“I had to overcome some injuries to compete, so it is a good result”. She previously won gold in the women’s 100m freestyle relay at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships.

With six individual events on her Rio schedule, Patterson’s gold could be the first of many.

Canberra cyclist Sue Powell was the first Australian to take a medal when she claimed silver in the C4 3000m individual pursuit on the Rio Velodrome.

“Hopefully I can follow suit for the rest of the week”, she said. We’ve also got a bronze in the Women’s 100m T53, with Angela Ballard coming third in that event also on Friday morning (Australian time).