Melissa Tapper

Melissa Tapper makes history. No matter which way you cut it, that’s a fact.

On track for a successful career in able-bodied sport, Melissa’s world was turned upside down when Paralympics Australia suggested she transition to Para-table tennis. She soon began training for national selection, and her rise in the sport was meteoric.

She reached the bronze medal match on debut at the London 2012 Paralympic Games which, at the time, was Australia’s best performance in Para-table tennis at a Paralympic Games in 28 years.

Following the Games, she became the first Australian Paralympic table tennis player to qualify for an able-bodied national team when she was selected to represent Australia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, and in 2016, Melissa made history again when she became the first Australian to compete at a Paralympic and Olympic Games in the same year.

But her most memorable moment to date came in 2018, when she became the first Australian to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in table tennis – in front of a home crowd, no less.

At her third Paralympic Games at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Melissa played in the women’s individual C10, progressing to the quarterfinals. The 36-year-old was knocked out of competition by fellow Australian Yang Qian. The two then teamed up in the women’s team C9-10 event with fellow Australian teammate Lei Li Na, advancing to the final to take on Poland. The Aussie trio won silver after being defeated by defending champions Natalia Partyka and Karolina Pek in two matches.