The 23-year-old Queenslander broke the world record in the heat and took it up another notch to break the record again in the final in 59.53.

It came after she had single-handedly carried Australia’s 100-metre relay team to an emphatic first-place finish two days earlier.

Other pool medals on day seven of the Paralympic Games went to Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson in the 50-metre breaststroke SB2 and Ricky Bear in the men’s 200-metres individual medley SM14.

Table tennis star Qian Yang took the second gold medal of the day in the women’s singles WS10.

Australia’s cyclists scored five medals in various individual time trials, with two silver (Meg Lemon and Lauren Parker) and two bronze (Alana Forster and Darren Hicks).

Leary’s ‘miracle’

Leary’s astonishing Paralympic gold medal fulfilled a prophecy set out by a fortune teller three years ago when she was in a coma after a cycling crash.

Leary fell off her bike in a near-fatal accident in 2021, leaving her with brain damage and several long-term injuries.

More than once, doctors informed her parents, Russ and Belinda, they should prepare to say goodbye to their daughter.

Searching for answers and hope, Leary’s parents turned to a clairvoyant who predicted that the swimmer would rise to become a Paralympic gold medallist .

“It is actually so amazing the fact that when I was in ICU, my dad got a fortune teller,” Leary explained.

“The fortune teller read that I wanted to go to the Paralympics, and now I’m here, I’m like ‘wow, I did it’.”

Leary was beside herself with excitement as she revelled in clinching gold in a world record time.

“It’s pretty awesome. I’m very impressed with myself,” she told Channel Nine.

“It’s been a long, rough journey for me, but it’s a miracle that I’m living and I’m walking and I’m talking.

“They were told that I never would three years ago, and I’ve just come so far.

“I am so impressed with myself. I’m like ‘Lex look how far you’ve actually come.”

And that feeling was only heightened when Network Nine showed her a congratulatory video from Australian music producer Fisher.

“He’s one amazing person and I’ve always got my headphones in, he upbeats me every single day. The best song he plays is ‘World Hold On‘,” Leary said.

“It gets me going. It gets me in race mode every single time and I don’t know, what it is about his music, but he gets me in this rhythm to just go smash it in the water.”

After belting out ‘Advance Australia Fair’ on the podium, Leary celebrated her gold by dancing on the podium, performing the robot and staring down the barrel of the broadcast camera.

Her infectious personality and comeback story has quickly made her one of the most-endearing characters in Australian sport.

“I’m like, wow, I’m amazed at myself that I am, I’m like, ‘Yeah, Lex, I love that for you,’ it just makes me want to go even harder at the next Paralympics to see what else I’ve got,” Leary said.

There was nearly a second Australian medal in Leary’s race with Emily Beecroft just missing bronze in finishing fourth.

There were two bronze medals won for Australia in the pool on Wednesday night.

Twenty-year-old Ricky Betar led his 200m individual medley (S14) through the first 100m but trailed off to finish third.

That was in contrast to Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson, who surged into third spot late in his 50m breaststroke (SB2) to grab his second bronze of the Games.

Patterson, 35, was adamant he wants to race on until the 2032 Games in Brisbane and catch his white whale.

“Unless something else comes up like Mercedes offer me an (F1) contract, I’ll be there in 2032,” Patterson said.

“I’ve got one goal left and that’s the gold medal, who knows if I’ll ever get it but I’ll go out and die trying.”

– with AAP