Australian Paralympic gold medallist Paige Greco has died at the age of 28.
The para-cyclist, who clinched her country’s first gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, died on Sunday at her home in Adelaide after a “sudden medical episode”, said AusCycling, the sport’s national governing body.
Greco’s family is “devastated by her loss, [but] incredibly proud of the person she was and the way she represented Australia”, her mother Natalie said in a statement published by AusCycling.
“Paige meant everything to us. Her kindness, her determination and her warmth touched our family every single day,” Mrs Greco said.
Greco, who had cerebral palsy, started out as a track-and-field athlete before turning to cycling in 2018.
Throughout her career, she won several World Championship titles and World Cup medals.
At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games she broke the record for the women’s C1–3 3,000m individual pursuit, a track event where cyclists race head-to-head on opposite sides of the track.
She went on to win bronze medals in the women’s C1-3 road race and time trial at the Games.
Greco sat out of selection rounds for last year’s Games held in Paris because of health issues, but returned to elite competition this year, The Guardian reported.
In August, she won another bronze medal at the para-cycling World Championships in Belgium, this time for the C3 road race event.
Tributes poured in from various corners of Australia’s sporting community following news of Greco’s death.
AusCycling’s chief executive officer Marne Fechner called her an “extraordinary athlete who achieved outstanding accomplishments at the highest levels of [the] sport”.
“Much more than that, she touched the lives of everyone around her with her positive spirit and courageous outlook,” Fechner said.
Paralympics Australia’s chief executive officer Cameron Murray said “Paige’s achievements on the international stage were exceptional, but it was her kindness, her quiet determination and the way she uplifted people around her that will stay with us all”.
“She had a rare ability to make people feel included and supported, and her influence will no doubt leave a lasting impression on so many,” he said.
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