Swimmer Tom Gallagher has delivered Australia’s first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Paralympics to cap a remarkable comeback from a near-deadly bout of pancreatitis.

Gallagher powered home through the final throes of the men’s S10 50-metre freestyle final at a packed La Defense Arena to snatch first place with a finishing time of 23.40 seconds.

The 25-year-old’s surge down the home stretch ensured he held off a chasing pack that included Australian teammate Rowan Crothers, who finished the race with bronze.

Australia’s Thomas Gallagher (left) with the gold medal and compatriot Rowan Crothers with the bronze after the Men’s 50m Freestyle. Source: AAP

Success was especially elating for Gallagher, who finished with a bronze in S10 400-metre freestyle in Tokyo but his pancreatitis caused him so much pain he couldn’t take his spot on the podium.

Gallagher’s gold and Crothers’ third-place finish took Australia’s medal tally in the pool to four on day one in Paris following an earlier silver for Lakeisha Patterson and bronze for Brenden Hall.

Paralympic athletes Sofia Kankoly of Hungary, centre, Lakeisha Patterson of Australia, left, and Vittoria Bianco of Italy. Photo: AAP

“Being the first gold medal of the comp means so much for me,” Gallagher said.

“In Tokyo I was a different athlete, I had a lot of medical issues in my pancreas, so after the 400 metres, I ended up in hospital for about a month and nearly died.

“I luckily had a surgery a few years ago now that’s fixed it all and I’ve managed to turn into a sprinter.

“Pancreatitis is extremely painful; my heart rate went up to 240 beats per minute, and all my internal organs started shutting down.

“I wasn’t able to go on the podium that night but tonight makes up for it. ”

Crothers, whose bronze was his fourth Paralympic medal, couldn’t help but admire his teammate’s perseverance en route to his first gold medal.

“I’ve won that race before but today Tommy did and a bronze medal is dang good,” Crothers said.

“What a story … I think Tom’s such an incredible athlete and he’s had to overcome so much.”

Gallagher and Crothers’s medal double haul helped put a shine on an afternoon that began with a bang but threatened to end in heartache for many of Australia’s medal hopefuls.

Several Australians fell just short of the podium including Alexa Leary, who earlier on Thursday set a world record – which was surpassed 10 minutes later – and finished sixth in the women’s S10 50-metre freestyle.

Ben Hance had to settle for fourth in the men’s S14 100-metre butterfly, while Paige Leonhardt placed seventh in the women’s S14 100-metre butterfly.

Hall got bronze in the opening race of the afternoon – the men’s S9 400-metre freestyle – while Patterson finished with silver after relinquishing her commanding lead to Hungary’s Zsofia Konkoly on the final lap of women’s race.

Bronze medallist Australian Brenden Hall, with winner Ugo Didier (France) and Italian silver medallist Simone Barlaam.

“I could see her closing in that last 200 and I like a chase and thought I’d be able to get there tonight,” Patterson said.

“I certainly can’t complain, it’s my third Paralympics now and I’ve podiumed at all three Games and that’s a special feeling.”

It felt like a fitting end for Hall’s seven-medal Paralympic career, who indicated this would be his last Games.

The 31-year-old said the medal win took on extra significance given it was the first time his two-year-old son Bodhi had been able to see him compete.

“Give him another year he’ll realise what dad did was pretty important stuff,” Hall said.

“At the moment he’s just enjoying watching dad swim and have a lot of fun and for me that’s the most important thing.”

Chris Bond scored 12 tries but Australia tasted an opening-round wheelchair rugby loss in Paris. Photo: AAP

Early blow for Steelers

Australia’s quest for a Paralympic wheelchair rugby gold medal is on shaky ground after a defeat against Great Britain.

The Steelers’ bid for Paralympic wheelchair rugby glory hangs by a thread after slumping to defeat at the hands of Great Britain.

Australia was beaten 58-55 in their pool B opener at Champs-de-Mars Arena on Thursday and faces a daunting task to reach the semi-finals and contend for a medal.

The Steelers, who are ranked No.1 in the world and finished fourth in Tokyo, were neck and neck with the reigning gold medallists until GB pulled away at the start of the third quarter.

It means Australia has little room for failure with wins against hosts France and Denmark needed to guarantee qualification for the medal matches.

“It’s not the end, we’ve done this before in competitions where we’ve lost the first game and gone on to win,” captain Chris Bond said.

“It was pretty even for most of the game and then just a couple of turnovers got us down.

“We kept fighting and that’s what Australians do, we stuck it right to the end and we almost turned it over.

“It was a high-quality match, and there were a couple of bounces that could have gone our way and that happens sometimes, and we were thereabouts, but we didn’t do enough.”

Bond contributed 12 of Australia’s tries and he and Ryley Batt, who clocked a game-high 36 tries, looked in a mood to kick on after a tense first half that ended 28-27 in GB’s favour.

But the Brits established a two-point gap in the opening seconds of the third quarter and turned that buffer into three in the final minute to leave Australia in a do-or-die scenario to get out of their pool.

“It’s going to really energise the team because we have to win,” Bond said.

“The nerves are gone and we just have got to go flat out and get the French.

“We’ve done it before, and we’re going to try and relish this crowd … it’s going to be bloody loud.”

-AAP