Australian golden girl Vanessa Low says she is a better athlete today than she was before pregnancy - and for the record, she won two Paralympic gold medals during that time - because "being a mother gives me some extra superpowers".
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Low has made a statement on the road to the Paris Paralympic Games by adding another world title to her collection during the world para athletics championships in Kobe.
The reigning Paralympic champion is on the cusp of her fourth Paralympic appearance, having made the switch to Australia in Tokyo after representing her native Germany in 2012 and 2016.
She has won Paralympic gold for both Australia and Germany, but you get the sense her greatest achievement is little Matteo, the son of Low and three-time Paralympian Scott Reardon.
Because when you ask about the 33-year-old's secret to success, Low grins that motherhood is giving her a new lease on her athletics career.
It's hard to argue after Low claimed the spoils in the long jump T63 this week and set a new championship record of 5.29m (-0.1) when narrowly missing her own world record of 5.33m.
Low secured a staggering 63cm victory over Japanese silver medallist Tomomi Tozawa to set up her Paralympic title defence in Paris.
![Vanessa Low is Australia's golden girl once more after winning another world title. Picture Athletics Australia Vanessa Low is Australia's golden girl once more after winning another world title. Picture Athletics Australia](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36vwtM5n3dmMVgNPycRBEHz/6cb4c498-a02f-4caf-bcc0-9bc0ba4f51a2.jpg/r0_66_2953_1733_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"This is just so exciting. I know there is more there, but I'm so happy to be in this position given the challenging prep leading up to this moment," Low said.
"I had about a 10-week injury break from jumping, and the prep for this was really difficult. We didn't want to jeopardise Paris by coming here, but I'm really glad that I came and I'm really happy with how I performed.
"After last year, I was confident that I could build back up to my normal self. Going into Paris last year, it was probably a bit rushed but I'm a better athlete now than I was before pregnancy and more physically capable than I was before I was a mother.
"Being a mother gives me some extra superpowers and I'm looking forward to seeing what I can do in Paris, knowing we still have about 100 days to go."
SEVENS HEAVEN
Lily Bone and April Downey will head to France in June to play at the world university championship rugby sevens tournament - and they'll front the media next week to talk about it.
But before they can get to that, the pair will collide in an ACT club rugby clash between Bone's Queanbeyan Whites and Downey's Gungahlin Eagles at Nicholls Enclosed Oval on Saturday.
ACT Brumby Bone has been named at No.8 for the Whites, while Downey - one of the Premier XVs competition's most lethal attacking weapons - will play fullback for Gungahlin in a rematch of a round two thriller.
ROAD WARRIORS
You might find the future of Australian cycling at Stromlo this weekend.
Round one of the Australian under 19 national road series, and round 2 of the NSW and ACT junior road series, hits Canberra this weekend as the Canberra junior and women's tour gets underway. The four-stage event consists of a time trial, road race, criterium and kermesse.
You naturally wonder if the next Chloe Hosking might be going around. It's a title already bestowed upon Canberra prospect Lauren Bates, who is away in Andorra.
Bates emerged as one of Australian cycling's shining lights when she claimed three gold medals and two silvers at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad and Tobago last August.
All that and she hadn't raced on a track in four months.