{"id":291327,"date":"2025-11-17T23:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/291327\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T23:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T23:08:09","slug":"anna-meares-jaryd-clifford-alistair-donohoe-pay-tribute-to-champion-cyclist-after-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/291327\/","title":{"rendered":"Anna Meares, Jaryd Clifford, Alistair Donohoe pay tribute to champion cyclist after tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian cycling<\/a> royalty Anna Meares<\/a> is among the many who’ve paid heartfelt tributes on social media to Paige Greco after the Paralympic<\/a> champion’s tragic death at 28 years old<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Australian cycling and para-sport communities are mourning the death of Greco after a sudden medical episode in her Adelaide home at the weekend.<\/p>\n

Greco won gold on the velodrome at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 and competed on the world stage as recently as last month, at the para-cycling track world championships in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

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\"Paige<\/p>\n

Paige Greco celebrates winning Paralympic gold in Tokyo.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Meares, Australia’s chef de mission for the Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and a two-time Olympic gold medallist, started a post on social media with the words: “Can’t believe I’m writing this.”<\/p>\n

“RIP Paige Greco,” Meares wrote.<\/p>\n

“Thank you for all you stood for, achieved and how you did it while you were here.<\/p>\n

“Your loss is felt hard. You made your impact.<\/p>\n

“Love to your family, friends and those in the cycling, Paracycling, Paralympic and sport communities. So sorry we’ve lost you.”<\/p>\n

Jaryd Clifford, the star Paralympic distance runner, said Greco was “one of the nicest people” he’d met.<\/p>\n

“From our first AIS camp in 2012 to the Paralympic Games, Paige was as tough as they come with one of the best smiles in sport,” Clifford wrote.<\/p>\n

“Rest easy Paige.”<\/p>\n

\"Paige<\/p>\n

Paige Greco beams with pride after claiming Paralympic gold.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Paralympic cyclist Alistair Donohoe wrote: “A true blessing to have known and a joy to be around. One of the kindest souls to have ever lived and to be forever missed.”<\/p>\n

Erin Rowell, who was in Rio de Janeiro for the world championships with Greco last month, said the Australian team would “never be the same”.<\/p>\n

“There’s a space here that can’t be filled, a quiet reminder of the kind, genuine soul you were,” Rowell wrote.<\/p>\n

“It was an honour to ride alongside you and to share this journey as teammates.<\/p>\n

“You brought warmth, calm, and a goodness that lifted everyone around you.”<\/p>\n

Tara Neyland was also a teammate of Greco’s in Brazil.<\/p>\n

“You were the warmest, kindest, most compassionate, selfless and brightest soul,” Neyland wrote.<\/p>\n

\"IZU,<\/p>\n

Emily Petricola (left) and Paige Greco \u2014 two of Australia’s gold medallists at the Tokyo Paralympics.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

“Thank you for being the best roomie and an even better friend.<\/p>\n

“My heart is broken. You will be sorely missed.”<\/p>\n

One horrific event in Italy in 2023 and the comeback that followed were proof that Greco was indeed “as tough as they come”, to quote Clifford.<\/p>\n

At a road cycling World Cup event in Maniago, about 100 kilometres north of Venice, Greco was only 500 metres from the finish line when she crashed into a wall at 45 kilometres per hour.<\/p>\n

She was soon on a stretcher and in a neck brace, her front tooth had been knocked out, and the facial trauma was severe.<\/p>\n

She had also broken her nose and been heavily concussed, and would need countless stitches to patch up multiple wounds.<\/p>\n

The physical scars were extreme and the psychological scars, too.<\/p>\n

But once Greco was able to, she got back on her bike and continued chasing her sporting dreams.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got some battle scars, but I love cycling and I love training,” Greco said in 2023, per the Paralympics Australia website.<\/p>\n

“Going overseas and competing has always been a real passion of mine.<\/p>\n

“It’s what drives me, it’s what makes me happy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian cycling royalty Anna Meares is among the many who’ve paid heartfelt tributes on social media to Paige…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-291327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}