Emily Tapp finally gets Paralympic Games chance at Tokyo

It was meant to happen five years ago, but on a cold Canberra day, a few weeks out from the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Tapp suffered third-degree burns from a gas heater that left her needing skin grafts.

She was cleared for the Games, but at a training camp in Florida she was told they weren't healing correctly - threatening to end her Paralympic dream just weeks out from the event.

But now that five-year wait is finally over and she'll race in the women's paratriathlon in the PTWC class on Sunday - the first time her preferred class has been included in the Games. She'll get the chance to add to her already growing trophy cabinet - two world championships (2017, 18) and a Commonwealth Games silver medal on the Gold Coast.

"It's been a long journey to get to my first Games, especially now living through Covid, so it hasn't been the same lead-in, but for any person who's going to their first Games, it's always going to be a special milestone," Tapp said.

"To be able to say you're an Olympian or in my case a Paralympian, it's a very special honour."

And the medal she's hoping to add? There's one colour her sights are set on to thank her family.

"My mum, she has always joked, but kind of like a serious joke, she has always wanted a gold medal in the family," Tapp said.

"Her and my step dad have always been really supportive of me. They helped me get my first bike and all the equipment that comes with doing paratriathlon."

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Not that triumphing over adversity is anything new.

Ten years ago, while competing in a campdraft, Tapp fell from her horse leaving her with a fractured vertebrae and a paraplegic. She spent eight months in hospital, followed by a gruelling three years of rehabilitation.

That's where she met the inspiration behind her Paralympic dream.

Doing her rehab in the USA, Tapp met an Australian quadriplegic who was training for a half-ironman. It blew her away.

"I still can't fathom those kinds of distances. I was like, 'Woah, this is so surreal that he is doing something so much greater than I am with a bit more limitation than I have'," Tapp said.

The lead-up to the 2020 Paralympics has been different to other competitions Tapp has trained for previously.

Athletes have been unable to compete internationally due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

So instead of heading to Japan or Asia to acclimatise, Tapp turned to the University of Canberra to ensure she was ready for the hot and humid conditions waiting for her in Tokyo.

"We have done some training through the University of Canberra using their heat chambers, where we can set the temperature to what we anticipate race day temperatures and humidity to be," she said.

"That has been a really great experience to do."

Having seen what the Tokyo Olympics were like from afar, Tapp knows these Games are going to be different to the ones she missed at Rio.

Whether that be the luxuries around the village or not being able to watch fellow athletes compete.

"Getting to watch and support other athletes once you finish your event is always a fantastic thing to be able to do, because as an athlete you can appreciate how hard they have trained to get to this spot," Tapp said.

"It would have been fantastic to have the smaller thrills I guess that comes with the Games' village life and it is unfortunate we have to miss out on those, but my No.1 focus is racing."

While there were plans for school children to watch the Paralympics, there will be no international crowds allowed at the venues.

But Paralympics Australia have launched a campaign to help raise money to support this year's team, as well future Paralympians.

The campaign encourages Australians to be there virtually for $25.

"You can buy virtual seats for the Paralympics. My friends and family are starting to buy their seats obviously because they can't come, but it's a really cool incentive to bridge that gap and show support from home," Tapp said.