Keeping her dream alive, an athlete feature with PTWC Paratriathlon Lauren Parker

by Chelsea White on 28 Sep, 2018 12:58
With the dream of one day winning the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Aussie Lauren Parker was badly injured in a bike crash that left her paralyzed from the waist down. However, despite her circumstances and the newly claimed life that introduced her to a world in a wheelchair, Parker has reentered triathlon as an elite Paratriathlete who earned the bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Paratriathlon World Championships in Gold Coast.

In early April of 2017, Australian triathlete Lauren Parker felt at the peak of her career. After finishing second in the 2015 Ironman World Championships in Kona, the 28-year-old triathlete was training for 35 hours a week with a goal on her mind: a podium at the Ironman Australia Triathlon in Port Macquarie. On an early morning ride a week before the race, she crashed into a guardrail while travelling about 45km/h, suffering broken ribs, a punctured lung, a broken scapula, broken back and a broken pelvis, all causing her to lose any feeling from the waist down.

Doctors gave her only a one percent chance of walking again, which meant that Parker had to adapt to her new circumstances of life in a wheelchair, one journey that has not always been easy or enjoyable. But despite all of that, Parker was determined to continue in the sport she loved. Just nine months after her accident, she competed and podiumed in the 2018 St. Kilda OUT Paratriathlon Oceania Championships, which qualified her to represent Team Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Competing in the PTWC sport class in paratriathlon, she then went and claimed the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. But the success did not stop there, she also finished third overall in the ITU Paratriathlon World Championships in Gold Coast, proving that determination trumps circumstances always and inspiration can come from anyone’s story.

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Related Event: 2018 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Gold Coast
12 - 16 Sep, 2018 • event page • all results
Results: Elite Men
1. Vincent Luis FRA 01:44:34
2. Mario Mola ESP 01:44:48
3. Richard Murray RSA 01:44:56
4. Pierre Le Corre FRA 01:45:01
5. Kristian Blummenfelt NOR 01:45:04
Results: Elite Women
1. Ashleigh Gentle AUS 01:52:00
2. Vicky Holland GBR 01:52:02
3. Katie Zaferes USA 01:52:33
4. Laura Lindemann GER 01:52:53
5. Kirsten Kasper USA 01:53:15
Results: U23 Men
1. Tayler Reid NZL 01:44:08
2. Samuel Dickinson GBR 01:44:20
3. Bence Bicsák HUN 01:44:31
4. Léo Bergere FRA 01:44:39
5. Jørgen Gundersen NOR 01:44:44
Results: U23 Women
1. Taylor Knibb USA 01:53:47
2. Cassandre Beaugrand FRA 01:55:22
3. Angelica Olmo ITA 01:56:39
4. Nicole Van Der Kaay NZL 01:57:02
5. Erika Ackerlund USA 01:57:18
Results: Junior Men
1. Csongor Lehmann HUN 00:52:49
2. Paul Georgenthum FRA 00:53:12
3. Philipp Wiewald GER 00:53:14
4. Boris Pierre FRA 00:53:20
5. Lorcan Redmond AUS 00:53:22
Results: Junior Women
1. Cecilia Sayuri Ramirez Alavez MEX 00:59:11
2. Erin Wallace GBR 00:59:23
3. Kate Waugh GBR 00:59:34
4. Pauline Landron FRA 00:59:46
5. Romy Wolstencroft AUS 00:59:51
Results: Mixed U23-Junior Relay
1. Team I France FRA 01:20:27
2. Team I Germany GER 01:20:48
3. Team I Great Britain GBR 01:21:25
4. Team I Portugal POR 01:21:28
5. Team I Australia AUS 01:21:31
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