THE excitement of the Rio Paralympics can be felt around the Border as relatives of two Australian competitors cheer them on.
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Queensland swimmer Lakeisha Patterson, who was born in Wodonga, added a silver medal on Monday to the gold she won in the pool last week while Wodonga athlete Jodi Elkington-Jones prepares to start her Olympic campaign early Thursday morning.
Patterson, 17, has eight swimming events in a schedule so busy, her grandparents Bob and Joy King and her Corowa uncle Mark Patterson had to plan accordingly.
“I took a week off so I could watch her,” Mr Patterson said.
The swimmer claimed Australia’s first gold medal of the Games with her world record win in the S8 400m freestyle.
“The 24-year-old she beat had never been beaten, we just couldn’t believe it,” Mr Patterson said.
Patterson later finished strongly in the 100m freestyle to place second behind teammate Maddison Elliott.
“She was hanging on for bronze, I thought, then she just lunged at that wall,” her uncle said.
Mr Patterson said his niece would be a contender in many of her events, but he wasn’t sure of her program’s physical toll.
“And the adrenaline for those kids - I didn’t sleep the first night and I’m just old Uncle Mark,” he said with a laugh.
Wodonga’s Betty and Jake Elkington won’t let a little thing like time difference get in the way of their wish to support their granddaughter.
“My word I will, I’ll be up all right,” Mrs Elkington said.
“We’re all wishing her the best and we’re all going to be up watching.”
Elkington-Jones, 23, will compete in her long jump final just after midnight Thursday and then the 4x100m relay Friday about 8.30am.
Her parents, David and Cindy, are in Rio with her, along with other relatives and friends.
“We’ve always been interested in sport, all my kids have been sport-minded and their kids,” Mrs Elkington said.
She felt Elkington-Jones had a chance to make the podium but “we always say to her, ‘Just do the best you can’, medals aren’t everything in the world, are they?”.
After the Paralympics, Elkington-Jones is expected to visit Wodonga before she and her husband Warrick Jones move to the US for several years owing to Mr Jones’ employment.