UQ athletes win six medals at Rio Paralympic Games
The majority of UQ’s medals came in swimming, with 2009 UQ Blue recipient Blake Cochrane winning a silver medal, and 15-year-old UQ Swim Club member Katja Dedekind clinching bronze.
CO-ADD ambassador Chris Bond won gold in wheelchair rugby.
Read this UQ Sport story for the full list of UQ athletes who competed in Rio.The Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Sciences student and UQ Sports Achievement Scholarship holder claimed back-to-back Paralympic gold medals in the Men’s S9 400m Freestyle.
The 2012 UQ Blue winner dominated the event, setting a time of 4:12.73 to defend his London 2012 Paralympic title.
The 23-year-old won a silver medal in the S9 100m Freestyle, finishing second behind Australian teammate Tim Disken. Brenden clinched his third medal of the Games with a third-place finish in the S9 100m Backstroke.
Competing in a total of seven events, Brenden also finished fourth in the finals of the S9 100m Butterfly and 4x100m Medley Relay.The 2009 UQ Blue winner claimed silver in the Men’s SB7 100m Breaststroke, adding to the gold medal he won in the same event at London 2012. The 25-year-old finished second behind Columbia’s Carlos Serrano Zarate, who won gold in a world record time.
Blake was part of Australia’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay team that finished fifth, and was seventh in the final of the S8 400m Freestyle.The 15-year-old UQ Swim Club member, who was the youngest competitor on the Australian Paralympic Team, scored a bronze medal in the Women’s S13 100m Backstroke.
Competing in four events, Katja was also a finalist in the S13 400m Freestyle, finishing seventh.
Katja is trained by UQ Sport Head Swimming Coach, David Heyden.The UQ CO-ADD ambassador claimed his second career Paralympics gold medal after Australia beat USA in a thrilling wheelchair rugby final.
Chris scored 21 goals in the Steelers’ 59-58 double-overtime win, to ensure consecutive Paralympic gold medals for Australia.
The 30-year-old ranked inside the top-10 for most goals with a total of 91 across Australia’s five games.The School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences PhD student finished an impressive 12th out of 29 shooters in the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing (SH2) competition.
In his second event, the two-time Paralympian was 29th in the SH2 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone.The Graduate Diploma of Education student featured in two of Australia’s Women’s Goalball matches (5-2 loss to China; 12-2 loss to Turkey).
The Australian Belles’ best result from four matches was a 2-2 draw against Ukraine.The two-time Paralympian and UQ Athletics Club member impressed in the Women’s T38 400m final, narrowly missing a bronze medal with a fourth-place finish.
