Three-time Paralympic gold medallist Carol Cooke has returned to competitive cycling for the first time since being hospitalised by a serious crash at Tokyo 2020.

Australian Cooke entered the Games in the Japanese capital as the defending champion in the women's T1-2 time trial and road race.

She collected silver in the time trial at Tokyo 2020, but suffered a punctured lung during a heavy fall in the road race, which left her in hospital and unable to return home with the rest of the Australian team.