By Josh Squire 

Off the back of some all-time performances at the Olympics, 43 Commonwealth Games alumni will take on Paris as competition at the Paralympic Games starts tonight.

An exciting mix of youth and experience come together for 11 days of competition, and after Birmingham 2022 where Australia’s para-athletes took home 35 medals, big things can be expected.

The flagbearers for the Games – four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Madison de Rozario and Gold Coast 2018 gold medallist Brenden Hall – will be vying to lead from the front. Each of them will be competing at their sixth Paralympics and they are both multiple gold medallists.

De Rozario returns to the Paralympics as the 800m T53 and marathon T54 champion and will hit the historic streets of the French capital in a bid to retain her spot at the top of the long-distance race.

Alongside Glasgow 2014 gold medallist Angie Ballard, the duo will lead an Australian athletics team that features all three of the gold medallists from the Tokyo Games three years ago.

Hall enters the La Defense Arena chasing the pack.

Now in his 30s, the three-time Commonwealth Games medallist leads an outstanding Dolphins team that includes 14 Commonwealth Games medallists who share 22 medals amongst them.

Birmingham 2022 champions Tim Hodge and Katja Dedekind enter the Games as two of Australia’s most likely chances in the pool.

The pair won gold in the men’s 200m individual medley SM9 and women’s 50m freestyle S13 respectively at last year’s world championships, priming them for an all-out charge towards Paralympic gold.

Currently holding the world record for the 200m individual medley SM9, Hodge knows that he’s the one that everyone is chasing. But instead of worrying about the pack behind him, he’s looking to grow on his unmatched record when the time comes.

“It’s an incredible honour to compete at my third Paralympic Games,” Hodge said.

“My coach and I have left nothing to chance, and we’ll be drawing from all my previous experience and hard training over the last three years to put together my best possible performance.”

But the medal chances stretch far beyond the pool.

Significant challenges will be raised by Australian cyclists, and a keen eye should be kept on the tandem bikes in the velodrome.

Dual Birmingham 2022 winner Jessica Gallagher and her guide Caitlin Ward have been stalwarts of the world championship podium but haven’t achieved the same success as they did in Birmingham.

Paris offers another chance for the duo to strut their stuff on the world stage, and Gallagher’s drive to succeed remains strong as ever.

“It’s been a big few years coming off the back of the Commonwealth Games and world championships and we are ready for this next chapter to begin,” she said.

“We’re so thankful to know everyone back home in Australia will be watching and cheering for us. Bring it on!”

The Paris Games will also see the return of Australian athletes to the powerlifting stage, led by B2022 bronze medallists Hani Watson and Ben Wright.

The two are the first Aussies to compete in Paralympic powerlifting since the duo of Melbourne 2006 bronze medallist Darren Gardiner and two-time Commonwealth Games Team Member Abebe Fekadu competed at the London Paralympics in 2012.

Watson, who broke Australia’s 16-year medal drought in powerlifting at the Commonwealth Games, is keen to draw on some extra motivation to become the first Aussie woman to claim a medal in the discipline.

“I’m excited, honoured and humbled to wear the green and gold again,” she said.

“I know my late mumma is going to be there with me on the platform ready to lift some heavy weight. I can already hear her saying ‘you’ve got this, darling – let’s go.’”

Also keep an eye on our strong table tennis contingency, which includes four Commonwealth Games medallists, headlined by 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Qian Yang.

She’ll be joined by Lina Lei, who took silver in Birmingham behind Yang, in the quest to build on the six medals the team won in Tokyo.

Another athlete to watch is Lauren Parker.

Ranked as the world number one triathlete in the PTWC class, Parker will drop the swim and run legs a few days after her triathlon in a bid to win gold in the women’s road cycling H1-3 individual time trial.

The reigning world champion in the discipline is setting herself for a huge three-event Paralympic schedule, also contesting the women’s H1-4 road race.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games get underway tonight in an action-packed first day of action in the French capital.