Cheer for Logan's Paralympic athletes
After Australian athletes with a link to the City of Logan struck gold at the Paris Olympics, the nation is ready to cheer on more local legends at the Paralympics Games, beginning 28 August.
Paralympians with an association to Logan will be giving it their all in the hope of a medal in the sports of para-archery, para-shooting and para-athletics, so there will be plenty to cheer for while the Games run until 8 September.
Above: Paralympians AJ Jennings, Samantha Schmidt and Natalie Smith. Photo provided by Paralympics Australia.
These are the Paralympians to look out for, with links to Logan:
- AJ Jennings (Para-archery): The Logan Village mum-of-two was a silver medallist in Para Canoeing in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and contested the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. Hip replacement surgery after those Games prompted her to try a new sport and now she’s off to Paris to compete in archery.
- Natalie Smith (Para-shooting): The Meadowbrook marksman, who has previously been featured on the cover of Our Logan magazine for her astounding talent, is heading to her fourth Paralympics and will contest various distances in the women’s rifle events.
- Samantha Schmidt (Para-athletics): The Logan-born thrower holds the Australian Para records in discus, shot and javelin in her F38 class. Her throwing coach Ralph Newton is heptathlete Camryn Newton-Smith’s father and coach. Samantha was introduced to athletics at age 5 and was a proud member of the Jimboomba Athletic Club.
Games schedule highlights:
- Opening Ceremony: 28 August, 03:55
- Para-archery ranking round: 30 August, 01:00
- Para-shooting women’s qualifier and final: 30 August – 31 August, 17:00 and 19:45
- Para-shooting mixed qualifier and final: 1 September – 2 September, 17:30 and 21:00
- Para-shooting women’s qualifier: 2 September, 17:30
- Para-archery women’s individual recurve: 3 September – 4 September, 17:00, 20:58, 0:100, 02:25, 02:57, 03:14
- Para-shooting women’s final: 4 September, 0:00
- Para-archery finals and open bronze and gold medal: 5 September – 6 September, 18:00, 23:00, 00:20, 01:15, 01:35
- Para-athletics discus throw final: 7 September, 03:00
- Closing ceremony: 9 September, 04:00
Photo at top: Meadowbrook’s Paralympian Natalie Smith ready for action. Photo provided by Paralympics Australia.
Nominations for the 2024 City of Logan Sports Awards are open from Wednesday 7 August 2024 to Wednesday 4 September 2024.
The City of Logan Sports Awards pay tribute to city’s athletes, sporting staff, and sports events. The Awards recognise home-grown sporting icons whose accomplishments have seen them reach the highest level in their chosen sport.
For more information, please visit City of Logan Sports Awards.
