CLARKE AND MAC ALASDAIR TO FLY THE FLAG AT PARA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

WA’s sprinting star Rhiannon Clarke and rising talent Niamh Mac Alasdair will pull on the green and gold for Australia next month when they touchdown at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships in New Delhi. 

The Championships, running from September 27 to October 5 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, are set to bring together more than 1,000 athletes from across the globe in what will be the biggest para-sport event ever staged in India. 

At just 23, Clarke (UWA Athletics Club) is already one of the biggest names in Australian para-athletics. A two-time Paralympian, she has medals from both the World Championships and Commonwealth Games and is the current national record holder over 100m, 200m and 400m in the T38 class. 

The three-time Australian Champion burst onto the world stage in 2019 when she claimed the bronze medal in the 100m and 200m in Dubai, before adding a silver medal from the 400m at the 2023 World Para Championships in Paris to her collection.  

Clarkes rising stocks didn’t stop there, with the powerhouse sprinter lighting up the purple track in Paris at the 2024 Paralympics, chipping away at her own Australian records in the T38 100m and 400m events and finishing fourth in the 100m with a record of 12.72 and fifth in the 400m crossing the line in 1:00.81.  

For teammate and rising star, Mac Alasdair (UWA Athletics Club), New Delhi marks a career first. Mac Alasdair will make her World Para Athletics Championships debut next month competing in the T37 100m and Long Jump events. 

Representing Australia at the Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in the T38 long jump, Mac Alasdair impressed winning a silver medal for her efforts. The track and field talent has also left her mark on the domestic circuit, with podium finishes in both sprints and long jump at the 2023 Australian Athletics Championships.  

The UWA Athletics Club athlete only began competing as a teenager, but her progress has been rapid. New Delhi offers a unique chance to test herself against elite opposition and lay a foundation for the years ahead. 

Clarke and Mac Alasdair are part of a 51-strong Australian team, the second largest Australia has seen at a World Para Athletics Championships and the largest since the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, marking a major step forward in the momentum of Australian Para-athletics.