Australian Paralympic champion Carol Cooke is "gutted" her two gold medals won at the Rio Games have been stolen.
The Australian para-cyclist of the year says the medals were taken from her car parked outside the Victorian Institute of Sport in Melbourne early on Wednesday after thieves smashed through a window.
Cooke had been showing off the medals at various promotional events.
"The medals are medals. They're not the end of the world," Cooke told AAP.
"But I share those medals with everybody I speak too, especially school kids.
"I'm not one of these athletes that puts them away. I take them with me and pass them around."
The 55-year-old took gold in the women's T1-2 road race in Rio a month ago and also defended her London 2012 crown in the 15km T1-2 road time trial.
The Canadian-born former undercover police officer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998 and has been in a wheelchair since 2001.
"I'm just gutted that they're gone," she said.
"They're priceless."
