Track and Road Preview | Tokyo Paralympics

The highly anticipated Tokyo Paralympics have arrived and the Australian Para-athletics team and fans alike are eager for the program to begin on Friday, as we preview some of the action set to take place on the track and roads.

Sprints

James Turner (Iryna Dvoskina) rose to stardom with an iconic win in the 800m T36 event at the Rio Paralympic Games in world record time, but with the event removed from the program for his class, Turner has switched his focus to the 100m and 400m events – where he now also holds world records.

Turner ran his season’s best of 12.02 into a headwind earlier this year in Canberra, with the time positioning as the world leader in the 100 sprint in Tokyo, and his 52.10 in the 400m is nearly two seconds ahead of current world number 2, William Stedman of New Zealand.  

It’s a credit to Turner’s versatility under the guidance of Dvoskina, with the 25-year-old able to adapt and embrace the challenge in order to be a genuine contender for gold in Tokyo.

Australia’s fastest ever Paralympian across 100m, Chad Perris (Iryna Dvoskina) has established himself as a cult figure on the Australian athletics scene after adopting the nickname the “White Tiger”, and he presents as one of Australia’s most exciting prospects at the Games in the 100m T13.

Perris clinched bronze in the event at his Paralympic debut in 2016, before proceeding to improve on that performance with a silver medal at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships. The White Tiger has flirted with career best form all season long and if he can piece it together on the day of his final – anything is possible.

Isis Holt (Paul Pearce) will compete in both the 100m and 200m T35 events at her second Paralympic Games, despite being only 20-years-old. A four-time world champion, Holt has enjoyed a resurgence in the sport after taking some time away, shaping up in world record form ahead of Tokyo.

Holt secured two silver medals in individual events at the Rio Games, with the refreshed sprinter looming as a force to be reckoned with on the world stage in 2021. While Holt goes to Tokyo as the world leader in both events,long-time rival Xia Zhou (China) who edged her off the top of the podium in Rio has not recorded times in either event this year and could pose a threat to Brisbane-based Holt.

Evan O’Hanlon (Iryna Dvoskina) approaches his fourth Paralympic Games with six Paralympic medals around his neck – five of them gold. After taking out the 100m event in his class in both 2008 and 2012, it was a silver medal in Rio that spurred O’Hanlon on to a fourth Games, where he is looking to return to his winning ways in the 100m T38.

The 33-year-old is also on the cusp of becoming the first Paralympian to represent their country at a Winter Olympic Games after cementing himself in the squad for the Australian bobsleigh unit, utilising his explosiveness across the two endeavours.

Scott Reardon (Iryna Dvoskina) will be on the hunt for a second Paralympic gold medal in Tokyo after taking out the Paralympic title in 2016 in the 100m T42. Set to compete in the 100m T63 event due to a change in the World Para Athletics classification structure, Reardon has gone from strength to strength since being announced to his third Paralympic team – confident he can emulate his 12.13 best and stand on the podium in Tokyo.

The young duo of Alissa Jordaan (Sebastian Kuzminski) and Jaydon Page (Sebastian Kuzminski) are set to make their Paralympic debuts, leading the next wave of Para-athletes to continue Australia’s rich history in the sport.

Jordaan will compete in both the women’s 100m and 400m T47 events, whilst Page will contest the men’s 100m T47 as the pair look to gain invaluable experience on the world stage. Late last year, Jordaan became the first Australian female T47 sprinter to run the 400m in under 60 seconds, while Page, as the youngest on the Australian Athletics Team at the Tokyo Paralympics will be looking to make an impression as he gains crucial experience on the world stage.

Wheelchair racing stalwart Angie Ballard (Fred Periac) is set to become a five-time Paralympian when she competes in both the 100m and 400m T53 events. Over the years Ballard has dominated the 400m, breaking three world records in addition to setting the 800m world record in 2016. In Rio she came home with two bronze medals in each event and will be looking to nab her ninth and tenth Paralympic medal on the track.

Rhiannon Clarke (Danny Kevan) made an impression on the international circuit upon her international debut at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, where she surged home in 13.17 seconds to take home silver in the 100m T38. If that wasn’t impressive enough, it took Paralympic champion and fan-favourite Sophie Hahn to cross the line in 12.46 to beat her. At the time, she was the youngest and least experienced athlete on the track and since then she has harnessed her talents and is ready to impress again at the Paralympic Games. She has lowered her personal best to 12.94 and goes in with a season’s best of 13.33. Look out for Rhiannon as she stretches her legs in the 400m T38 for another shot at a medal.

Robyn Lambird (Blanche Herbert) may have begun her sporting career as a wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball athlete, but she’s most comfortable sprinting down the front straight in the 100m T34. She began competing five years ago and established herself as one to watch when she placed fifth at the 2019 World Championships upon her debut.  – 100m T34

At just 24-years-old, Rheed McCracken (Andrew Dawes) enters the Tokyo Games as a four-time Paralympic medallist across London and Rio. He took out silver in the 100m T34 at both Games, narrowly suffering defeat to the dominant Walid Ktila (Tunisia) and will be fighting fierce to bring home the gold that has eluded him thus far.  At his second Games, he had his first taste of middle-distance racing at the Paralympics, winning bronze in the 800m. McCracken will be taking on both events again.  

Middle-distance

When it comes to middle-distance superstars, not many come bigger than Jaryd Clifford (Philo Saunders) and Madison de Rozario (Louise Sauvage).

Clifford is set to complete the 1500m/5000m double in Tokyo, entering as the reigning T12 world champion in both events after an emphatic 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. On that occasion, the vision impaired Aussie utilised guide runners to assist his ability to navigate the field – a luxury he will save for the marathon at this year’s Paralympic Games.

Clifford enters as the world record holder in his pet event of the 1500m at 3:41.34, making him one of Australia’s brightest gold medal prospects. With experience from Rio under his belt, the 22-year-old is not deterred by the task of completing three grueling events – saying his goal is simply to win them all.

Alongside Clifford in the 1500m T12 will be training partner and compatriot Sam Harding (Philo Saunders), who will make his Paralympic debut after illness ruled him out on the eve of the 2012 Games in London.

Competing at her fourth Paralympics, wheelchair racer de Rozario will attack the 800m, 1500m and 5000m T53 events on the track before hitting the road for the marathon.

Holding the world record of 1:45.53 in the women’s 800m for the T53 class, de Rozario will be looking to go one better than her silver medal in the event at the 2016 Games in London. The 27-year-old’s preparation has been sublime, nearing that world record mark during a solo effort at this year’s Canberra Track Classic.

At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, de Rozario won gold in the 800m to go with silver medals in both the 1500m and 5000m events – suggesting that she is a genuine contender in all three of her track races.

Eliza Ault-Connell (Fred Periac) will compete in the 400m and 800m T54 races, with the 39-year-old competing at her first Games since Athens in 2004. Ault-Connell has made a strong comeback over a number of years to return to the Paralympic space, highlighted by her bronze medal at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in the 400m to go with fourth place in the 800m.

Australia will field a dynamic duo of Deon Kenzie (Philo Saunders) and Daniel Bounty (Peter Bock) in the men’s 1500m T38, with Kenzie set to do battle with his archrival – Canada’s Nathan Riech.

Earlier this year Kenzie became the first Australian with cerebral palsy to dip under the elusive four-minute barrier over 1500m in a time of 3:59.79, since lowering that mark to 3:55.09. The progression speaks volumes to the development of the class, with any time under 4:10 in previous years equating to a genuine medal chance.

The 25-year-old won silver at the Paralympics in Rio along with bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, providing him with invaluable experience to lead his young teammate in the 19-year-old Bounty – who has improved rapidly to secure his maiden Paralympic berth.

Road

Michael Roeger (Philo Saunders) will be looking to repeat his gold medal heroics from the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai when he toes the line in Tokyo, chasing an elusive Paralympic title in the marathon after crushing his personal best earlier this year to set a new world record of 2:18:53 for the T46 class.

Roeger has a wealth of Paralympic experience to his name after debuting in 2008 and not missing a Games since, with a bronze medal in the 1500m T46 in Rio the highlight of his three ventures to date.

Clifford will return for the marathon after completing his track events, with his “accidental” marathon in April lighting the fuse for the prodigious talent. On that occasion, Clifford planned on pacing Roeger in a showing of good will for his teammate – unsure if he would make it to half way.

But as the clock ticked over 2:19:08, Australia had its newest world record holder – and it wasn’t Roeger. Clifford had completed the course despite sitting down after assuming his pacing duties were done, adding another string to his bow in the lead up to Tokyo.

Christie Dawes (Andrew Dawes) is set to make her seventh Paralympic appearance when she competes in the marathon in the T54 class, 25-years after making her debut in Atlanta.

The most experienced member of both the Australian Para-athletics Team, and the wider Australian Paralympic Team will be a valuable addition to the team both on and off the road, having been invested in the Australian Paralympic scene for so long.

Both de Rozario and Ault-Connell will also duel it out on the road after a series of events on the track, launching one bid for glory with nothing to lose. de Rozario is no stranger to the event, having won the wheelchair event at the 2018 London marathon.

By Lachlan Moorhouse, Athletics Australia
Posted: 25/08/2021