Turning Heads With Gold 

Lucky lane seven has once again delivered for James Turner who not only won Australia’s first gold medal in athletics today at the 2024 Paris Games but broke his own 400m T36 world record set at the Dubai World Championships five years ago. 

“When I heard I drew lane seven today I got a bit more confidence. Every time I run in lane seven at a major meet I break a world record,” which is what happened for Turner at the 2019 World Para-athletics titles. 

Today from that outside lane he led the field around the final two bends and into the straight crossing in 51.54s shaving 0.17 off the record and making it look quite smooth and comfortable.  

“It wasn’t effortless but it’s good I could make it look like that. It’s a lot of hard work but do the hard work and have belief in the process and that gets you across the line.” 

That’s now three gold at three successive Games: 800m in Rio 2016, 400m in Tokyo and 400m in Paris. 

“Did I think that would happen? I had my doubts. I actually had glandular fever earlier this year and wasn’t able to win at the Kobe World Championships [silver in May]. I was quite sick and couldn’t train properly. 

“Iryna [Dvoskina, coach] had to change all my programs just to get me here – I had waves of exhaustion where I could barely walk, so to be standing here with a gold and a world record is amazing. 

“I didn’t think I’d be able to break a world record today. I was thinking if I did everything right maybe I could scrape across the line.” 

Turner also had two World Championship golds in the 100m – from, you guessed it, lane seven. Heats for the event in Paris take place on Friday with the final on Saturday. 

The Canberra-based athlete experienced the high of a Games, while teammate Jaryd Clifford went through another low and challenging moment in the 1500m (T13) for vision-impaired athletes, after the disqualification from the Bronze medal place in the 5000m final three days ago. 

Today he led at the one-lap bell but was overtaken by Tunisia’s Rouay Jebabli and then two Russian athletes Aleksandr Kostin and Anton Kuliatin – running under the NPA (Neutral Paralympic Athletes) flag. Kuliatin (3:44.94) pipped Clifford on the line (3:44.95). 

“The emotions? It’s almost so ridiculous that it’s funny. I get DQd in the last metre (5000m) and 0.01 from a medal here. I don’t know…”, he said. 

“It’s crazy that it’s three years of work and the last metre defines all of that. It’s pretty brutal and I’m shattered. 

“The guys came around me and I still thought I had a chance as they didn’t kick around me super hard, but I knew when I crossed the line I had a feeling I was fourth.” 

But Clifford said he would be back for Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 to continue to search for that gold medal. 

His Paris campaign is now over – as is the track element for Australia’s flag bearer Madison de Rozario, who finished fifth in the 1500m (T54) wheelchair class after her 5000m Bronze last Saturday. 

She now has the Marathon on Sunday – hoping there is no repeat of what’s happened in both her track races, where competitors have crashed. 

“A fair bit of drama in that one again today,” she said.  

“As soon as I came out into the stadium and felt that it had started raining again, I think I knew I was in a little bit of trouble. It’s a really fine line to how you prepare. 

“That didn’t work very well in my favour. I was slipping quite a bit throughout that 15 (1500). That’s fine, that’s a fault on my part. We just know that’s how it goes sometimes.” 

Another athlete winding up her Paris experience was Dayna Crees, who finished 9th in her Shot Put (F34) for cerebral palsy athletes in the personal best distance of 6.30 metres. 

It prompted a few tears as she left the Stade de France Arena for the last time. 

“My first Paralympics…I made it. I’m coming home with a bronze medal in javelin and a PB (personal best) in shot put. I’m so stoked and so over the moon. 

“Just realising there’s a lot involved in a Paralympics is a great learning curve for me. It’s a huge event but not to let it affect your performance on the day. I took a deep breath, soaked in the atmosphere and enjoyed everything. 

“It’s made me keen to look ahead to what I might be able to do and it just fuelled everything inside of me to get back here and maybe break a world record one day.” 

Similar to Crees, 16-year-old Telaya Blacksmith has a bright future in the sport after making the 400m T20 final for athletes with an intellectual disability. She was slightly slower than her personal-best heat time of 57.96 but the experience of a maiden Games has left its mark. 

“Definitely I want to do it again and see what happens from there. It’s just amazing that I got to run in the finals…. it’s the crowd and adrenalin, it’s so much fun,” Blacksmith said. 

She returns to Stade de France in Friday’s Long Jump T20 final. 

Australian results Day 5 Para-athletics 

MEN 

1500m T13 Final: Jaryd Clifford, 4th (3:44.95) 

400m T36 Final: James Turner, Gold (51.54) WR 

WOMEN 

Shot Put F34 Final: Dayna Crees, 9th (6:30m) 

1500m T54 Final: Madison de Rozario, 5th (3:20.32) 

400m T20 Final: Telaya Blacksmith, 8th (59.37)  

By: Margie McDonald, Paralympics Australia

Published: 3 September 2024