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4 September 2021

We’ve struck silver! Congratulations to our Team Deakin Paralympians as we farewell Tokyo 2020

As the rescheduled 2020 Summer Paralympics come to a close this weekend, we congratulate all our participating Deakin elite-athlete students who did us proud in the green and gold throughout their time in Tokyo

Well done to our Paralympians Nathan Pellissier and Alex Viney on representing both Team Deakin and your country with your spectacular performances during the Games!

Congratulations on winning silver, Nathan!

Currently studying his Master of Professional Accounting and Finance while he works part-time at a Law Chambers, Tokyo 2020 has been Nathan‘s first Paralympics – and what a debut! Nathan, 25, has already achieved remarkable success while competing on the global stage in the lead up to Tokyo.

Image of Nathan Pellissier playing table tennis.

Prior to the Games, Nathan has pushed through medical procedures to manage his cerebral palsy and claimed gold medals at three major international championships in 2017, including the Korean Para Open and the Taiwan Para Open. In 2018, while he was living and training in Munich, Germany, Nathan won bronze medals at both the Spanish Para Open and US Para Open. 

Earlier in the Games, Nathan competed in the Men’s Singles Class 8 qualifying matches but did not progress to the semi-finals after finishing 0–3 against both Great Britain’s Aaron McKibbin and Poland’s Piotr Grudzien. But, with the best yet to come, Nathan and teammates Lin Ma and Joel Coughlan competed in the Men’s Team Class 9–10 Round of 16 events this week, knocking out both Brazil and France 2–0 in the respective elimination and quarter-final matches before defeating Nigeria 2–0 in the semi-finals. While China fought hard and ultimately claimed the final match 2–0 last night, we couldn’t be prouder of Nathan and his teammates for bringing home silver for the Aussies – congratulations on your first Paralympic medal, Nathan!

Learn more about Nathan on the Paralympics Australia website and follow him on Instagram via @nathanpellissiertt.

Well done, Alex!

Master of Business (Sport Management) student Alex joined the national team after only five months as a para athlete, winning gold at both the 2019 NSW State Championships and Australian National Championships.

Deakin elite athlete and Paralympian Alexandra VineyThe Deakin community has been keenly following Alex’s outstanding achievements over the years, and proudly recognised her achievements at the 2019 Deakin Sport Awards. In her role as a Lifeline Community Custodian, Alex shared her story about how she became a para athlete following a life-changing accident when she was 18 that threatened to cut short her fledgling rowing career.

Early last week, Alex competed in the PR3 Mixed Cox Four event on Tokyo’s Sea Forest Waterway with teammates Nikki Ayers, Tom Birtwhistle, James Talbot and cox Renae Domaschenz. Despite having limited opportunities to train together during COVID, the Aussies were off to a strong start, finishing second behind the USA in their first heat. While the team managed to achieve a Paralympic best time in their repechage contest prior to the main event, they finished fourth in the A-final with a time of 7:34:73 while the reigning victors Great Britain once again nabbed the gold. Well done, Alex and crew!

You can read more about Alex on the Paralympics Australia website and follow her on Instagram via @al.viney.


Congratulations once again to all our Olympic and Paralympic elite-athlete students and alumni – we’ve had a ball cheering you on from home! You can find out more about Team Deakin on the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games webpage

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were televised live and free exclusively on Seven and 7TWO, and simulcast in HD on 7plus



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