and an intellectual impairment, Reid noted that she hoped her success would inspire other Indigenous Australians with disabilities to be more involved in sporting activities.
“It means everything to me to be a proud Guring-gai and Wemba-Wemba woman and to represent my people back home, seeing there is only three of us on the team this time [along with Samantha Schmidt and Ruby Storm],” she told Channel Seven after claiming victory in the women’s C1-3 500m category at the international sporting event. “So I’m hoping I can encourage more Aboriginal disabled athletes to get into sport.”
After the 2012 Paralympics, the 24-year-old transferred to cycling, and went on to secure a silver medal at her first major international competition, the Women’s C2 500m Time Trial at the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Montichiari, Italy. Subsequently, at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, she won another silver medal in the Women’s 500m Time Trial C1–3.
Accordingly, she lived up to expectations in Japan this year, although she was initially unaware of her major achievement. “I can’t see the board as I am riding around with these glasses on so I had to stop to be told what my time was and how I went,” she said. “It’s quite interesting when you’re riding around not knowing what time you’ve made.”
Reid’s dedication to the sport and the intensive training she put in with her coaches in the build-up to Tokyo was well paid off, and she noted that to be able to bring back home the ultimate prize “means everything” to her.
