An Australian Paralympian runner has been disqualified from a long-distance event after officials said that he dropped the tether connecting him to his seeing eye guide.
Visually impaired distance runner Jaryd Clifford would have received the bronze medal in the T13 5000m for vision-impaired athletes at the 2024 Paralympics on Saturday, Aug. 31, but officials from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) ruled that he was not tethered correctly to his guide Matt Clarke as he crossed the finish line, according to Paralympics Australia.
Although Clifford, 25, ran the event in 16:12.45 — the third overall fastest time — officials said that he let go of the tether before he crossed the finish line.
“Jaryd needs guides to run these distances competitively, but it creates more margin for error and unfortunately today was a realization of that,” the Australian athletics team management said in a statement to Paralympics Australia. “He has the 1500m on his program, and we know he will be putting all the energy and disappointment into that performance.”
Yassine Ouhdadi El Ataby from Spain and Aleksandr Kostin from Russia, who is competing under the Neutral Paralympic Athletes association, took home the gold and silver medals, respectively.
Clifford, who was the only runner in the event to use a guide, spoke about his disappointment just moments after the race ended.
“I went and saw mum and dad and my girlfriend and broke down,” Clifford said, according to Yahoo Sports. “I had my little cry on the side of the track. If you talk about reacting to results as grief, I had my grieving moment. Out on the track, I was a little bit numb, I’m still a bit numb … I am pretty shattered, to be honest, if I’m frank about it, we went in with the aim of winning gold.”
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According to the Australian sports outlet Nine, Clifford has a rare genetic visual impairment called Best disease, and he has previously competed both with and without guides.
“When I have a guide it means I can focus on the running,” Clifford told the outlet. “I don’t have to worry about the tactics, [how many] laps to go, which people are around me. It means when I make a hard move for home I can go all out and not worry about saving some visual energy for that last lap to make sure I can just get around.”
In a post on Instagram on Aug. 31, Clifford shared that he was “devastated” after the “critical mistake” that resulted in his disqualification from the event.
“Remaining tethered is a fundamental rule in guiding and I’m shattered that I lost my mind in those final [meters],” he wrote in part. “I felt good, I have so much more to give and I promise I’ll bring everything I’ve got for the 1500m on Tuesday.”
During the event, Clifford used two guides, Clarke and Tim Logan. According to Paralympics Australia, he was tethered with Logan for the first 2,000 meters of the event, and then Clarke switched in so that he could maintain his pace for the last 3,000 meters.
“Guiding for me is not a need; it’s a want. The pros usually outweigh the cons,” Clifford told Nine. “Today on the last lap was probably a day where the guiding was a con.”
In his Instagram post, he thanked his two guides for their support.
“I’m feeling so much love, I’ve got a great team of people around me,” Clifford wrote. “Sport can be a cruel beast at times, but the tough times are what make the good times so great. Couldn’t be prouder to have worn the Australian singlet alongside my best mates @timlogann and @mattiiclarke ❤️.”
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Clifford previously took home two silver medals and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo games, according to his Paralympics profile. After those games, he suffered a series of injuries, including a stress fracture in his left femur, and he said he had hoped to make his comeback during this race.
After Saturday’s disappointment, he is now looking ahead to his next race on Sept. 3.
“Whatever happens I feel like it’s my fourth Paralympic medal anyway and I’m still chasing a gold,” he said, per Yahoo Sports. “I’m hoping I can shrug it off as quick as I can before Tuesday.”
