Track Preview | Paris Paralympic Games

Since the first Paralympic Games in 1960, Australia has had a rich history of success on the track and this year is set to be no different, as defending champions James Turner and Madison de Rozario lead the charge for 18 of our 32-strong Australian para athletics team in Paris.

Poised to defend his 400m T36 title with unparalleled determination, Turner (ACT, Iryna Dvoskina) will be looking to secure gold in the lap around the track as well as the 100m dash. His nine global gold medals have come to him with ease, but in Tokyo, his winning streak was broken for the first time, when he crossed the line second in his 100m. Born in Wollongong, NSW, the sprinter has worked hard at the AIS training base in Canberra alongside his coach Iryna Dvoskina as he looks to collect his T36 double and be crowned the king of the sprints once again.

Marathon queen Madison de Rozario (NSW, Louise Sauvage) has turned her focus to the roads in recent years, but will make three appearances at the Paralympic Games in Paris, taking on the 1500m and 5000m as well as marathon T54.

Having bowed out of her track events at last year’s World Para Athletics Championships, the six-time Paralympic medallist made her mark again in Nottwill, Switzerland at the WPA Grand Prix earlier this year, collecting wins and coming close to her lifetime bests, highlighting that her marathon training has only aided her on the track.

Adding to the excitement on the track, Jaryd Clifford (VIC, Philo Saunders) will be striving to add another chapter to his impressive track record after claiming three medals at the 2021 Games. Known for his endurance and tactical brilliance, Clifford is set to be a strong contender in the 1500m and 5000m  T13, the latter of which will see him accompanied by sighted guides, Tim Logan and two-time Olympic steeplechaser Matt Clarke.

The gold medal has eluded Michael Roeger (ACT, Philo Saunders) at three Paralympic Games, but using his experience and skill will look to stand atop of the podium for the first time at the pinnacle event in the 1500m T46 – a moment which would be full circle, having stepped up and down in distance since making his debut in the event in 2008.

Continuing the middle distance ambulant action will be debutants Reece Langdon (VIC, Tim O’Shaughnessy) and Angus Hincksman (SA, Simon Moran) in the Men’s 1500m T38, with the pair looking to add precious metal to their budding collections after claiming silver and bronze at the World Para Athletics Championships in Paris last year. Langdon and Hincksman are two of only four athletes worldwide that have broken the four-minute barrier, alongside Australia’s two-time Paralympian and former world champion Deon Kenzie and reigning Paralympic champion Nathan Riech.

Rounding out the middle distance action for ambulant athletes is Annabelle Colman (VIC, Liz Gosper and Anthony de Castella) who makes her debut in the 1500m T20 for athletes with an intellectual impairment. Boosting her confidence after she made her international debut last year at the World Para Athletics Championships, Colman has had much success on the track, slashing her PB by nearly 10 seconds, now down to 4:40.98.

Also making her Paralympic debut this week will be World Para Athletics championships medallist Mali Lovell (NSW, Katie Edwards and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor) who will take on the sprint double in the T36 category.  Silver medallist in the 200m, Lovell will be competing without expectation but as the Australian record holder, will be looking to improve upon her 29.67 best as she begins her journey on the biggest stage. Fellow debutant Abby Craswell (QLD, Andrew Craswell and Sebastian Kuzminski) will join her on the start line for the 100m.

Returning to the Paralympic stage will be training partners Rhiannon Clarke and Ella Pardy (WA, Danny Kevan) taking on the blue ribband event in the 100m T38, while World Para Athletics Championships silver medallist Clarke doubles up for the 400m. While the shorter sprints have been her specialty over the last quadrennium, won her first global medal in four years in her quest over one lap of the track last year.

Australia’s fastest para athlete Chad Perris (ACT, Matt Beckenham) is ever-green at his third Paralympic Games, only getting faster and faster as the years go on. Sporting a best of 10.65, Perris will take on the heavyweights of the 100m T13, an event for vision impaired sprinters, and will look to add another global medal to his collection of five, after finishing fourth at the two previous World Para Athletics Championships.

Rounding out the sprint events for ambulant athletes will be debutant Telaya Blacksmith (VIC, Jacinta Doyle and Anula Costa) who makes not just her Paralympic debut but Australian team debut in the 400m T20.  Inspired by Catherine Freeman and her gold medal victory at Sydney 2000, proud Walpiri woman Blacksmith is the first Australian to compete in the event, since it was introduced to the Paralympic program in 2004. She will also double up for the Long Jump T20.

Angela Ballard (ACT, Jamie Green) leads both the wider Australian team as Paralympic team co-captain in Paris as well as a cast of six wheelchair racers on the track. Alongside Madison de Rozario, Ballard is one of the prominent figures of the squad and will be a seven-time Paralympian when she contests both the 400m and 800m. Once a world record holder in the 400m T53, Ballard has placed fourth and could find herself in the medals once more and also use her tactical mind over two laps of the track.

Sprinters Luke Bailey (NSW, Andrew Dawes) and Samuel McIntosh (ACT, Fred Periac) return to the Paralympic stage in the 100m and 400m T54, with Bailey adding the 800m to his repertoire, while three-time Paralympic medallist Rheed McCracken (NSW, Louise Sauvage) takes on the 100m and 800m T34 – two events in which he secured medals in Tokyo.

Alongside Bailey in the 800m T54 will also be Samuel Rizzo (VIC, Richard Colman) who will push himself over the longer distances of 1500m and 5000m as well on his Paralympic debut. Having made his Australian team debut in 2018 at the Commonwealth Games, Rizzo was hard at work through to 2023 where he was one of the standout wheelchair racer at the World Para Athletics Championships, and earlier this year, broke wheelchair racing supremo Kurt Fearnely’s long standing 1500m T54 Australian record.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games begin on August 28, with the athletics program beginning on Friday, 30^th August. The Games can be watched live and free on Channel 9, 9Now and on Stan Sport.

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 26/8/2024