Former USC Spartan Ellie Cole was awarded her 16th Paralympic swimming medal in unusual circumstances in Tokyo last night (Monday 30 August).

The medal ceremony for the 4x100m freestyle race had been postponed from Sunday evening to allow for protests to be heard from the United States and Great Britain after both teams were disqualified.

The disqualifications meant Italy moved from second to first with a time of 4:24.85, Australia (4:26.82) went from third to second, and Canada (4:30.40) was promoted from fifth to third.

Cole, who completed a cross-institutional degree while studying at USC, has now won as many Paralympic medals as the great Priya Cooper OAM who is a member of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

Cole’s achievements include six gold medals, five silver and five bronze from campaigns in Beijing, London, Rio and now Tokyo.

Last night she finished 4th in the S9 100m backstroke final but has two further events on her schedule in Tokyo – the 100m freestyle today and the 4x100m medley relay on Thursday.

There are 10 USC-affiliated athletes competing in the Paralympics. Results so far include:

• Ruby Storm – silver in S14 mixed 4x100m freestyle; bronze in S14 100m butterfly; 7th in 200m freestyle
• Ben Hance – silver in S14 mixed 4x100m freestyle; bronze in S14 100m butterfly
• Alistair Donohoe – silver in C5 4km individual pursuit; 9th in team sprint qualifying
• Ellie Cole – silver in women’s 4x100m freestyle relay; 4th in S9 400m freestyle, 4^th in S9 100m backstroke
• Katja Dedekind – bronze in S13 100m backstroke; bronze in S13 400m freestyle, 4th in S13 50m freestyle
• Keira Stephens – bronze in SB9 100m breaststroke; 9th fastest in S9 50m freestyle
• Braedan Jason – 4th in S13 400m freestyle
• Chris Bond in Australian wheelchair rugby team that finished 4th

 Upcoming events for USC athletes are as follows (with all times in AEST):

Tuesday 31 August

• Hannah Dodd in wheelchair basketball playoff for 9th and 10th place at 9am
• Braedan Jason in S12 100m freestyle heats from 10.14am, with final at 6.21pm
• Ruby Storm in S14 200m IM heats from 10.41am, with final at 6.42pm
• Ellie Cole in S9 100m freestyle heats from 11.36am, with final at 8.14pm
• Alistair Donohoe in road cycling time trial at 2.30pm

 Wednesday 1 September

• Blake Cochrane in SB7 100m breaststroke heats at 10am, with final at 6pm

Thursday 2 September

• Ben Hance in S14 100m backstroke heats from 11.05am, with final at 7.03pm
• Ruby Storm in S14 100m backstroke heats at 11.16am, with final at 7.10pm
• Keira Stephens in 4x100m medley relay final at 8.59pm
• Ellie Cole in 4x100m medley relay final at 8.59pm