PARIS, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Making a comeback from a near-fatal crash three years ago, Australian swimmer Alexa Leary helped her team clinch the gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay - 34 points on Monday, once again showing the redemptive power of sport and how the Paralympic Games highlight athletes' ability to overcome the worst of adversity.

The 23-year-old was once a budding triathlete, but in July 2021 she suffered a horrific crash while training in a group of cyclists.

Traveling at around 70 kilometers an hour, her front wheel clipped the back wheel of the rider in front of her. The subsequent crash left her on the road with several broken bones, blood clots and brain damage.

Doctors told her parents they should prepare for the worst, but she survived after spending over 100 days in hospital and then began a long recovery process in which she had to learn to walk and talk again.

She was able to swim as part of her rehabilitation and her competitive edge shone through again. Just two years after her accident, she was picked as part of the Australian team in the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships.

After winning a gold medal in the women's 100m freestyle S9 and a silver in the 50m freestyle S9, she was also named in the squad bound for Paris, but nothing prepared her companions for the swim in the mixed medley relay.

When Leary dived into the pool at La Defense Arena for the anchor leg of the race, the Australians were in fourth place, almost six and a half seconds behind the Netherlands team who was in the lead.

After 50 meters Leary had moved into second, but was still almost three seconds behind the Dutch swimmer Thijs van Hofweegen.

"I was watching us, and I was like, 'come on, come on' ... I was like, 'I'm going to have to weapon myself out here, we've got to take home the gold," she explained after the race.

In the final 50 meters she continued to close the gap. "I knew I had to catch Van Hofweegen. I could see him, and I was like, 'I just have to take this win.'"

"He was actually a bit in front of me at 15 meters, but I caught him. I just had to," Leary explained.

Meanwhile, her teammate Emily Beecroft admitted that she was "in shock" after her companion's incredible swim.

"I knew it was going to be so close, but I was honestly not expecting to win. It's unbelievable ... She (Leary) was unbelievable," she said, as once again the Paralympics show the incredible emotions sport is able to provide us and the example it can set. Enditem

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