Turner's golden reign continues as Clifford and de Rozario claim bronze

Paralympic champion James Turner won his seventh gold medal from seven Championship races, while Jaryd Clifford and Madison de Rozario claimed their second medals - both bronze - on day five of the athletics competition at the Tokyo Paralympics.

James Turner (Iryna Dvoskina) continued his unbeaten form, claiming his second Paralympic gold in as many Games in the 400m T36. Turner famously won gold in the 800m event on the last day of the Rio Paralympics, but with the 800m out of the Paralympics, Turner has focussed on strength and speed to become a sprint specialist and holds the world titles in both the 400m and 100m events.

In today's gold medal feat, Turner crossed the line in 52.80 - nearly a whole second in front of Russian Evgenii Shvetsov who placed second - but it wasn't without the pain that comes with a lap around the track. As a cerebral palsy athlete that experiences ataxia and muscle fatigue, Turner battled to get to the finish line, shortening his strides in the last 40 metres. With Shvetsov just behind, Turner hung on ensure his winning streak continued.

"I nearly tripped over before the line so I'm glad I finally got there to win gold. It's my job to win so I'm glad I was able to achieve that," he said.

With another chance to win gold still ahead of him in the 400m T36, Turner also said:

"That would be personal satisfaction to me. It's also an absolute determination of mine to remain undefeated. I think I'll go alright. I'm not sure I prefer the 100m but it hurts a lot less. I'm feeling good and my run today has given me confidence that I can perform well."

Earlier in the week Jaryd Clifford (Philo Saunders) ticked off a life goal and career bucket list item when claiming his first Paralympic medal in the 5000m T13, and today he added another to his collection with a bronze in the 1500m T13. As the reigning world champion and world record holder, there was much expectation on the 22-year-old to dominate the event, but with a field that included the return of the top five athletes from the World Championships, Clifford had his work cut out for him.

Dominant early on in the race, Clifford quickly moved towards the front of the pack from the sound of the starter gun, but with 250m to go, Russian Paralympic Committee athlete Anton Kuliatin and Tunisia's Rouay Jebabli made their moves. It was anyone's race at the bend, but Kuliatin accelerated down the straight, with Clifford unable to match the pace. Even then in trying to lift for the silver medal, he narrowly lost to Jebabli in the last few metres to cross the line in 3:54.69.

Clifford ran alongside teammate and training partner Sam Harding, who made his long-awaited Paralympic debut after contracting Glandular Fever in the days before the London 2012 Paralympics. Having persevered to realise his dream, Harding was proud to finish in 11th place in a time of 4:05.13.

Clifford said it was one of the toughest races he'd experienced in his young career.

"It was a tough race. I know a lot of the boys are coming up from really quick 800m PBs. It was a quality race with quality athletes. Anton has raced in able-bodied championships, he's very good and Jebabli too. He committed a little bit harder than I did, while I was hesitant in that last part of the race, but I'm happy to be here, with Sammy. It's been so long, and he was one of the first vision impaired athletes I met and he is the one who showed me what's possible," he said.

Though his intentions were to win the gold, Clifford was humble in claiming bronze, stating:

"I take a lot from athletes like Madi de Rozario who just the other day won her first gold medal from four Games. It was so special to see. Even Jess Fox at the Olympics, and Scotty Reardon and I had a chat the other day, and he was saying that sometimes a silver is what it takes to one day win gold, so I'm learning a lot this year."

For the third time in three days, Madison de Rozario impressed on the track to claim bronze in the blue ribband event of wheelchair racing - the 1500m T53. Having qualified for the final as the fastest non-automatic qualifier, de Rozario was up against five athletes with faster season best times but was determined make an impression, having held the equal world record in the event until August last year.

In wet conditions, de Rozario found herself boxed in for a large portion of a race with no obvious way out but upon seeing a small gap open up behind her, she made a split-second decision to decelerate and manoeuvre her way around the pack. With less than 100m to go, she clocked the highest top speed on the track to chase down her second podium finish of the Games in a time of 3:28.24.

"I didn't know what to make of that race going in. The 1500m is the one I was most nervous about. It was an event I held an equal world record in, but at the Paralympics, never made it to a final so I knew anything could happen," she said.

"I push okay in the wet but it got really boxy in that race. When you're in the pack like that and the water is spraying off the wheels, it makes for a messy race. It was different to what I had in mind but I'm glad I got out of the pack and still make it onto the podium."

De Rozario now owns a full set of medals, having won gold in the 800m T53 and three silvers from Beijing and Rio. She has one more opportunity to claim a third medal in Tokyo in the marathon this Sunday.

Alissa Jordaan (Sebastian Kuzminski) ran a significant personal best in a stacked 100m T47 heat, clocking 12.80. The event is not Jordaan's pet event, and while she did not progress to the final, the time proves she is one to watch as she targets the event for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next year.

While there was much success on the track, the day was not without its issues. Tasmania's Todd Hodgetts competed in the shot put F20 for athletes with an intellectual disability, but technical officials flagged that he and two other athletes, including Malaysia's Muhammad Ziyad who was in gold medal position, were marginally late to the pre-event call room. While this was no fault of his own, with a number of contributing factors leading to him missing the deadline, the results of the trio were registered as DNS. Australia protested the decision but the appeal was disappointingly rejected.

Tomorrow will see six Australians compete at Japan National Stadium, including Eliza Ault-Connell (Fred Periac) who will make her first Paralympic appearance in 17 years, as well as wheelchair racer turned thrower Rosemary Little (Karyne Di Marco and Breanne Clement).

By Sascha Ryner, Athletics Australia
Posted: 31/8/2021