At 14 she was selected to represent Australia at the 2022 Virtus Oceania Asia Games in Brisbane, at 15 she represented Australia again at the 2023 Virtus Global Games in Vichy, France and now at the young age of 16, Telaya Blacksmith will become a Paralympian when she competes at the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the sport of athletics.
Telaya was so excited to receive the phone call almost two weeks ago to say she’d been selected to represent Australia.
“To think that I’ll be at school one day and the next on a plane to compete on the biggest stage across the other side of the world is hard to get my head around it.” Telaya said.
Telaya’s coaches (Jacinta Doyle and Anula Costa) have been training her knowing this was a possibility and now all those hard sessions will pay off.
A proud Walpiri woman from the Northern Territory, Telaya now lives in Sydney where she attends Endeavour High School, a sports focussed school with a proud history of developing Olympians and now Paralympians with Telaya being their first Paralympian.
Despite her young age Telaya has had the benefit of competing in two significant international events with Sport Inclusion Australia. While she didn’t return from Vichy with the success she may have imagined she gained valuable experience travelling overseas and competing against the World’s best athletes. “Vichy was a great experience and taught me a lot about what to do in between races and training. I feel much better about being away from home and how important food, sleep and all the other little things are to have me perform at my best.” Telaya said.
Telaya won’t be alone in Paris with coach Anula Costa and her family also travelling to be there to watch and support her. Costa hopes to attend the pre games camp in Montpelier where she will be able to work with Telaya and Australian team coaches. Mum (Bec), Dad (Ryan), 2 brothers (Carson and Sonny), sister (Tilly) along with Uncle Luke are also making the trip to France and hope to arrive before her first event. Younger brother Sonny can’t leave until after his football Grand Final so someone will stay home with him and then get on the next flight out which is scheduled to arrive just 5 hours before his big sister’s first event.
Telaya travelled to the Northern Territory over Christmas and New Year and talked to her extended family about the possibility of her going to the Paralympics. “When I told my family I might be going to the Paralympics they were so proud. Now that it has been announced I can tell them that I am going to be a Paralympian, I will be the first person of Warlpiri descent to compete at the Paralympics, it’s a big deal for all my family in the NT. Lots of my cousins, nieces and nephews look up to me and that is something that will be pushing me when I race and the legs start to burn in that last 100m” Telaya said.
Telaya grew up with Cathy Freeman as her idol, as the first person of Walpiri descent to compete at the Paralympics, she may very well become an idol herself to many young athletes.
Over the past 3 years Telaya has steadily grown as an athlete winning medals at National Championships and the Virtus Oceania Asia Games, importantly she has continued to improve her times and distances each year. She currently holds the Australian under 15, under 17 and under 20 T20 records in the 100m, 200m and long jump, in her Paralympic event the 400m she holds the under 17, under 20 and open T20 records. The previous open T20 400m record was set 8 years before Telaya was born. Telaya will face stiff opposition in Paris, she is focussed on making the final of her two events and doing her best. In the 400m she will be up against the former and current world record holders, Breanna Clark (USA) and Deepthi Jeevanji (India). Whatever the Paralympics bring, Telaya is an athlete we should expect to see a lot more of in the years ahead.
A talented sportsperson Telaya also plays football with her local club the Miranda Bombers and is in the Sydney Swans AFL academy, thankfully Telaya has decided that she will just run water for the remaining games as she needs to focus on the Paralympics.
Telaya recently spent a week in Geelong with coach Anula during the school holidays. Now back in Sydney, training with Jacinta and back to school next week where she will have some exciting news for her classmates and teachers.
The Athletics team will depart Australia on the 16th of August headed for Montpellier where they will go into camp before arriving in the Paralympic village in Paris.
Telaya’s Paralympic schedule is: 400m heats (2 Sep), 400m Final (3 Sep) and possibly Long Jump Final (6 Sep).
Selection in the Australian Paralympic team is a dream come true for Melbourne’s Annabelle Colman. She started running, a sport she shares with her father Alan when she was 15 years old. Just 5 years later she has been selected for her first Paralympics.
Alex’s family also love to ski, his elder brother, Thomas has been a ski instructor for 10 years in Perisher NSW, & Canada (British Columbia) at Whistler, Lake Louise & Nakiska providing Alex an opportunity to travel and train overseas.
For both athletes skiing is a family passion, something that the family do together. Seefeld will be no different with family members also travelling to Seefeld to support them as they represent Australia.
The Virtus Skiing Championships for skiers with an intellectual impairment are held every year providing opportunities in Nordic and Alpine skiing. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic this will be the first Championship conducted for three years.
Through her school years Marshall had trained and competed in swimming and rowing, with swimming having been the focus in recent years. Marshall was however a strong rower competing in school regattas with Pymble Ladies College. Both sports involve early morning starts and water, one in it and the other hopefully on top of it. But it wasn’t the early starts or the cold water that concerned Marshall she just wanted to represent Australia again.
Marshall couldn’t see her competitors but with the wonders of technology was able to watch each competitors progress on the racing graph. Marshall was successful in her first Indoor World Championship winning the 500m and 2000m events and taking 2 seconds off her own Concept 2 19-29 World record for the 2000m race.