Blacksmith ready to shine at World Para Athletics Championships

The opening day of competition has arrived in New Delhi has arrived and Australia’s hopes of immediate success sit with the emerging duo of Jaydon Page and New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder, Telaya Blacksmith, who will lead the way for a host of debutants to kick-start the nine-day championships.

Paralympian Blacksmith (NSW, T20) is poised for the 400m T20 as the national record holder and eighth-place finisher in Paris last year where she was just 16-years-old. The Walpiri woman who idolises Australian Olympic icon Catherine Freeman will chase her 57.96-second personal best on the big stage, with the 400m setting up her program which includes the Long Jump T20, as the rising star stamps her presence at her first World Para Athletics Championships.

Tokyo Paralympian Page (ACT, T47) has qualified for the last two World Para Athletics Championships finals in the 100m, finishing in fifth place in 2023 and seventh place in 2024, now aiming for a career-best result at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

With a personal best of 10.87-seconds to his name, the Canberra product will load into the blocks in the morning session for the heats which will set up his finals campaign in the afternoon.

“The preparation has been really steady. The next step for me is to be consistent and not get into my head too much, one thing I have done in the past is overcomplicate what I have to do,” Page said.

“I sprint every day, so I should be able to rock up to a start line and be able to deliver what I have been doing in training. The track is fast and the conditions are ideal for sprinting, I can’t wait to be honest.”

Apair of global debutants find themselves in straight finals as Niamh Mac Alasdair (WA, Danny Kevan, T37) and Kirra Wright (VIC, F36) take on the Long Jump and Shot Put respectively.

Mac Alasdair will be buoyed by her international experience at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games as she channels her 4.14m personal best, while Wright arrives on the world stage with a 7.61m best in the circle.

Former Para-swimmer Nathan Jason (QLD, T12) has traded the goggles for spikes and is primed for this World Para Athletics Championships debut in the 100m T12, where he owns an 11.16-second career-best.

The debutant will have his work cut out for him with a three-round showdown down the straight, but Jason will not be alone as he looks to lead the way for the rising quartet of Ullrich Muller (QLD, T38), Shannon Winchester (TAS, T38), Samuel Allen (QLD, T37) and Liam Kernick (VIC, Adam McCann, T37) who fire up for their respective 100m heats.

The 2025 World Para Athletics Championships will be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi, India from September 27 – October 5. Australian viewers can tune in live and free via the Paralympic Games YouTube channel.

Australian Athletics