TOKYO TOO TO HANDLE
‘I remember him yelling ‘more ice’ and he was shoving ice down my shorts’
A MAN on a mission? Or a glutton for punishment? Jaryd Clifford is a bit of both.
Legally blind, Clifford produced one of the most courageous displays of middledistance running by an Australian Paralympian to win a silver medal in the 5000m in brutal conditions in Tokyo on Saturday.
Racing in 34C temperatures and 65 per cent humidity, he ran himself to the point of exhaustion, virtually falling over the line as he emptied the tank. He was so spent, he began vomiting after almost fainting in the stifling heat and needed medical treatment to get his temperature down.
“I don’t remember a great deal,’’ Clifford said.
“I feel like I nearly didn’t make the line in the last 20m. I struggle to focus after a race which makes me dizzy and then I get motion sickness and start throwing up. After I threw up, I didn’t get much better.
“I laid down in the tunnel and the doctor just stood over me. I remember him yelling ‘more ice, more ice’ and he was shoving ice down my shorts. That was kind of interesting but it worked.”
“Then they took me into another room and I was on a bloody stretcher which all seems a bit dramatic.”
Clifford, who has macular degeneration which blurs his central vision but allows him to see things from the edge of his eyes, was still struggling to cool down almost an hour later when he went to the ceremony to be presented with his silver medal, his first at the Paralympics.
Already a world champion in the 1500m and 5000m, the Victorian had expected to win gold so was disappointed at finishing second but admitted the oppressive conditions got to him.
“It was bloody hot and humid,’’ Clifford said.
“I thought I’d prepared well and I still back that but the way I felt after the race, I haven’t felt like that ever in my life. So, that makes it easier to accept the result because it really genuinely felt like I had to fight even to get to the finish line.”
The Olympic marathons were moved almost 1000km north to Sapporo, which is less muggy than Tokyo, but Paralympic organisers decided to hold the ultra-endurance events in the sprawling Japanese capital.
But that’s not the craziest bit because Clifford – who remains the favourite to win the 1500m – has vowed to also run the marathon on the last day – despite knowing the serious health risks.
Adding to the risk, Clifford hasn’t even trained for the marathon and has only completed the distance once, when he ‘accidentally’ broke the vision impaired world record after starting out as pacer for his Australian teammate Michael Roeger.
“When I was lying on the stretcher, my first thought was far out ‘I better make sure this doesn’t look too traumatic because they might pull me out,” Clifford said.
“But I genuinely think I feel good.
“I think that was just an initial bodily reaction.
“The 5km is a different beast and for the marathon, I‘m going to have my guides so I’m going to be able to get sponges and water the whole way.
“I’m actually looking forward to the marathon in a different way because it‘s a slower pace.
“It’s a different kind of beast and it’s a beast that I think I’ll be able to handle even better than the heat on the track in the stadium, it’s a different type of thing.”