The Werri Beach athlete turned the tables on the Netherlands' Alyda Norbruis, defeating the defending champion in the women's C1-C3 500 metres time trial.

Read more: When to watch the Illawarra's Paralympic athletes

Reid was the second last rider to hit the track and it didn't take her long to show why she's the reigning world champion.

The 24-year-old eventually stopped the clock in a time of 38.487 seconds, bettering the world record she set in Brisbane last year by almost half a second.

The final rider, Norbruis was the only athlete who could have toppled the Australian, however she could only manage 39.002 seconds. China's Wangwei Qian won the bronze.

Reid arrived in Tokyo with her eye on both the gold medal and the world record and she was pleased to have achieved her goals.

"It just means everything," she told Channel 7. "The last five years have been very up and down, to get the gold is just amazing, it feels so great.

"I was hoping for a world record, but I was a bit everywhere on the track, a bit like a zigzag on the track. That's because of my cerebral palsy, that can be very interesting when you ride."

Tokyo is Reid's third Paralympic Games, after she competed in London as a swimmer.

The South Coast talent made the switch to the bike after that competition and she hasn't looked back.

Reid has five world titles to her name, three coming in the 500m time trial.

That form translated to the Tokyo Games and she was able to turn her Rio silver into gold.

An Indigenous woman, the cyclist has been inspired by Cathy Freeman in her pursuit for Paralympic glory.

One of just three Aboriginal athletes in the Australian team in Tokyo, Reid is hoping the next generation of youngsters will follow in her footsteps.

"It means everything to me to be a proud Guring-gai and Wemba Wemba woman and to represent my people back home.

"Seeing there is only three of us on the team this time, I'm hoping I can encourage more Aboriginal disabled athletes to get into sport."

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