Reece Langdon

EVENTS:  T38 1500m

AGE:  28 (DOB 22 Feb 1996)

COACH:  Tim O'Shaughessy

STATE: VIC

AUSTRALIAN TEAM DEBUT: 2023 World Para Athletics Championships

PERSONAL BEST: 1500m 3:52.56 (28 Jan 2022)

BIOGRAPHY

Running to the letterbox was how Reece Langdon started his interesting journey in athletics. Aged 9, Reece didn’t live on a suburban quarter-acre block, but a farm in Goulburn and the distance to the letterbox was about 2km. Around then he started competing at school. “I discovered I really enjoyed athletics carnivals and cross country at school,” recalled Reece.

He competed in every event, with his 400m his best distance. He enjoyed travelled to events with his sporty friends. “But what I loved the most was my Nan and Pop would always come and cheer me on, so I wanted to do well for them and show them my ribbons!”

Between the age of 10 and 14 Reece wasn’t training specifically for running, but I keeping fit playing soccer. He made his first State championships aged 15, but broke his elbow a month prior. Two days before the champs he had the cast removed. 
“I came completely dead last… but I will never forget all the other runners getting around me at the end of the race and telling me I did a great job. Their sportsmanship was amazing and made me want to be more involved in the world of running.” The next year he won gold and it prompted one of his teachers to suggest that I get a running coach.  

He moved to Canberra in year 10 and one day asked his dad to drop him off at the AIS track.
“I walked into the AIS Athletics Track and spotted what looked like an athletics coach leading a bunch of athletes. I went up to him, introduced myself, and told him I was looking for a coach. He told me he was about to start a session, so I jumped in and did my first ever track session! Afterwards I was absolutely wrecked, but hooked. This bloke turned out to be Matt Beckenham and became my first official running coach from 2013 – 2016. During this time I trained as a 200m and 400m runner.”

He found he enjoyed middle distance events and in 2016 moved to Dick Telford’s squad where his milage went from 30 to 160km/week. 
“Several of my training partners (who knew about my childhood illness) suggested that I consider going through the para-athlete classification process. Up until this point I had always competed with able-bodied athletes. In 2021 he spent a year going through the classification process, and in February 2022 was officially classified a T38 para-athlete. He immediately set Australian open T38 800m (1:56.21) and 1500m (3:52.80) records. In late 2021 Reece had switched to Philo Saunders who coached some para-athletes, then in May 2022 he moved to Melbourne and started training under coach Tim O’Shaughessy.

At the National championships in April 2023, he raced a trio of very talented Aussie T38 metric milers. Reece was able to take gold ahead of Angus Hincksman and Deon Kenzie.

In June 2023 he was named in his first Australian team, where he won silver in the T38 1500m at the World Para Athletics Championships. He clocked 4:04.30 and finished one place ahead of teammate Angus Hincksman.

Domestically in 2024, he didn’t improve his two-year-old PB of 3:52, but just weeks prior to his Paralympic Games debut in Paris he clocked 3:49.12 to confirm he was in terrific form when it matters. 

Impairment: In December 2002 (age 6) he started getting severe headaches, so his parents took him to hospital. He soon lost his ability to talk and walk and became almost completely paralysed. They discovered he had severe streptococcal which led to a virus, which attacked his cerebellum. He was diagnosed with cerebellitis. He gradually relearnt how to walk and talk, but was left with permanent ataxia, coordination impairment, temperature regulation issues, and general weakness on the left side of his body…Hero: “My Nan (who passed away in 2019) will always be a huge source of inspiration for me. She was so passionate and supportive of my running. I actually lived with her when I was 15 and 16 and she taught me so many things, especially kindness. We did everything together - shopping, cooking, watching sport on TV and gardening. And we used to have talks about me one day running for Australia - I always felt like she truly believed I’d make it as a runner. I’m sad she won’t be able to watch me race in Paris, but I will be thinking of her"…Most influential person in your career: Matt Beckenham – he gave me a shot when he didn’t even know who I was…Advice to your young self: Sometimes less is more. This has been a hard lesson to learn in relation to my training…Hobbies: running podcasts, finding new coffee spots, and watching soccer…Sporting ambition: To become world champion and Paralympic champion and to help the paralympic movement grow for the next generation of para athletes…Interesting facts: has a plant-based diet since late 2019… Biggest challenge you've faced: 22 weeks off running twice fracturing a sacral stress fracture. It was really tough on his mental health and taught him an important lesson ‘less is sometimes more’.

@ 23 August 2024 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au