MEREWETHER'S Christie Dawes will attend her seventh straight Paralympic Games after being named in Australia's athletics team on Friday.
The 41-year-old was selected to contest the women's T54 wheelchair marathon in Tokyo and will be the most experienced member of the squad.
Dawes' maiden Paralympics were in Atlanta in 1996 and she hasn't missed a Games since, racing in Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio (2016).
The mother-of-two has three medals to her name - two silver and a bronze - finishing second in two relays (4x100m in 2008, 4x400m in 2016) and third in the individual 5000m in 2012.
Dawes clocked a Tokyo qualifier before coronavirus restrictions saw the Australian Marathon Championships on the Gold Coast cancelled earlier this month.
She will be joined by fellow national representatives Madison de Rozario and Eliza Ault-Connell on the start line on September 5.
De Rozario and Ault-Connell were two of 10 athletes announced in the Paralympic squad last year.
Luke Bailey (T54, 100m), also coached by Christie's husband Andrew Dawes in Newcastle, got the nod for his maiden Games.
Australian Team Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin praised the perseverance and skills of the 36 athletes.
"I'm so impressed by the way they've handled everything that's come their way," McLoughlin said.
