It’s official: Women are killing it at the Paralympics but honestly we’re not surprised

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EVERYONE. SEND HELP. The amount of amazing stories and achievements coming out of the Paris Paralympics are absolutely OUT OF CONTROL. Buckle UP, because history is being made in a big way.

In just one night this week - Aussies Amanda Reid won gold in the women’s C1-3 500m time trial, Li Na Lei and Qian Yang won gold in the women’s doubles table tennis, and Madison de Rozario won bronze in the women’s 5000m T54 final. Best bit? Madison was awarded her bronze by none other than Australian Governor-General and gender equality advocate Sam Mostyn, who is also a friend of the athlete.

We’re not stopping there; over the last few days, women have been defying stereotypes and smashing taboos left, right and centre. We’ve seen British archer Jodie Grinham competing while seven months’ pregnant (more on that below), Zakia Khudadadi make history by taking bronze in Para taekwondo - the FIRST EVER member of the Refugee Paralympic Team to win a medal, and Sheetal Devi shot a bullseye using her legs and feet.

You might notice that this newsletter is a little bit more text heavy and longer-form - but it’s a snapshot of some of our most-consumed content recently on Missing Perspectives and we’re excited to share it with you. We don’t take it for granted that we get to report on the achievements of female athletes both in Australia and around the world - particularly during such an exciting time for women’s sports.

One final thing before we wrap up….we can’t wait to share another exciting women’s sports related-project in the pipeline soon. Watch this space - and for some new faces coming on board!

Cheers,
The Level The Field team

Paralympian Ella Pardy needs to be on your radar, STAT - and here’s why

We're calling it now: Ella Pardy is on track to become a household name here in Australia.

Ella will be representing Australia at the Paralympics in Paris, which will be her third Games (yes, you read that right). At her first ever Paralympics in Rio she took out bronze, then went on to compete at the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. She's only continuing to build momentum, and we can't wait to see her hit the track in Paris. Her speciality event is the T38 100M, but she also competes in the 200M and long jump. Seriously, what can't this woman do?

So, how did she end up in Para-athletics from such a young age?

"I slept three hours broken sleep at night till I was 14 years old. My mum had me doing all kinds of sports to try and wear me out so I would sleep, which didn't work," Ella tells Missing Perspectives. "I was good at lots of sports like swimming, horse-riding, and ice skating. There was no real early intervention then, so sport was my intervention."

Read our full profile on missingperspectives.com.

In conversation with AFLW icons Chloe Molloy and Ruby Schleicher

Ahead of the upcoming AFLW kick-off (pun definitely intended), Kat Sasso spoke with Fox Footy commentator and Collingwood star Ruby Schleicher and Swans co-captain Chloe Molloy on behalf of Missing Perspectives - and here's what they had to say about the upcoming season.

So what can we expect from the AFLW this season? According to Chloe, the last few years have shown just how much things have evolved.

"I think the the gap between the teams that were from the inaugural season versus all the expansion," she says, "I think that gap's getting smaller, and, you know, the margins even in the games... I think we reflect back a few years ago, and there were blowouts, but I don't think there's as many of them anymore, and I think that's kudos to the way we've invested in AFLW.”

"I think the margin's getting way smaller, which I think you just never what way a game's gonna go because of how the competitive balance has evened out a bit more than what it once was," she continues. "So I think you'll expect really close games."

FIFA Women's World Cup Wins 'Best Sports Coverage' at the 2024 Logies

Channel 7's coverage of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 was named 'Best Sports Coverage' at the 2024 TV Week Logie Awards on Sunday night.

Accepting the award on stage was Channel 7 presenter Mel McLaughlin, who said this victory was a "big deal".

"This is the first time that a standalone female sporting event has ever won this Logie," McLaughlin told the live industry audience in Sydney after accepting the award from Australian canoeist Jessica Fox and swimmer-turned-TV presenter Johanna Griggs.

"There was a group of us from Seven that were absolutely desperate to get these free-to-air rights because love football, we love the Matildas," she continued. "We wanted to tell the story, and we also knew something special was going to happen."

Of course, the anticipation in the lead up to Australia and New Zealand co-hosting the FIFA Women's World Cup was huge, but McLaughlin says many people's expectations were exceeded when it came to the public's response – particularly towards the Matildas.

"We knew it would be something special. We definitely didn't necessarily think it was going to be the most watched television event in Australia," she said.

According to Reuters, Australia's semi-final loss to England had an average TV audience of 7.2 million on Channel Seven, while the final where Spain defeated England attracted 5.54 million viewers.

A lil’ sponsored post from the ACT Government

“I tell people the same thing over and over about Canberra: I moved for the job, but really stayed for the lifestyle. Seriously - bear with me.

“Over the months that followed, I fell in love with the city. There was something so special about waking up in the city-where-it-happens (had to include a Hamilton reference, sorry), walking around the stunning Lake Burley Griffin (affectionately known as LBG by locals), and heading up towards the National Triangle to work - a strip containing some of Australia’s most significant buildings. Passing Parliament House each morning was a daily reminder of the importance of the work I was doing in Canberra.”

In a new piece for Missing Perspectives, Phoebe unpacks why she was surprised by how much she loved living in Canberra. Read the full story here.