I had a great experience at the Stade de France tonight at the athletics. All the volunteers were offered free tickets on different days and I am glad I went. There was a lot happening at any given moment, running events and javelin, long jump, shot put and discus, all interspersed with medal ceremonies. I can only imagine the massive spreadsheet that organised all the movements!

I got to see a few Australians compete which was great. I saw Michael Burian do a number of javelin throws and then, win the bronze medal! It was great to see him compete and then his medal ceremony.

I thought the little remote control cars they used to return the javelins were pretty nifty!

As I was leaving, I couldn’t believe it but I saw Michael with family and so I congratulated him and asked for a photo! He seemed happy to agree!

I also got to see two other Aussies race who unfortunately didn’t make it the finals. Telaya Blacksmith is a young indigenous woman from the NT. I got a photo of her as she was leading her 400m race going into the bend.

I also got to see Samuel Rizzo in his 1500m wheelchair race which was very exciting but not the result he hoped for.

It was great to be so close to the action and it really made it feel real rather than watching on TV. Seeing the athletes up close the past few days at the rugby and tonight, really made me feel in awe of their achievements. Not only are they elite athletes but they have each had to overcome personal challenges of some kind, many of them pretty serious ones. This makes their efforts all the more impressive. While the dedication of all athletes is impressive, the resilience and determination shown in the Paralympics is really at another level. It has been inspirational being here and I am so glad I came.

Friends and I have been discussing why we hold separate Olympics with a separate opening and closing ceremony. Sure there are some logistics to consider, but wouldn’t it be amazing if there was a single, joined up opening and closing ceremony and paralympic events were interspersed with olympic events? Something for Brisbane 2032 to ponder.