Tokyo Paralympics: Blade runner Scott Reardon out to extend golden run

It’s only 100 grams but this tiny piece of lead could make all the difference to blade runner Scott Reardon in his quest for gold in Tokyo.

Scott Reardon celebrating his 100m T42 gold in Rio.

It’s one of the most impressive records of anyone in Australian sport - not being bettered in a final since 2013.

And it is one Scott Reardon is hoping to extend at the Paralympics despite a rough ride to the Tokyo Games.

A single leg above knee amputee after a farming accident, Reardon has his sights set on success in the blue riband T63 100m race he won gold in five years ago in Rio.

Scott Reardon on his way to gold in Rio.

Reardon, whose campaign starts on August 29, has an enviable record in the 100m with three consecutive world championship titles from 2013 to 2017 and his gold in a record 12.26 in Rio in 2016.

“If I can be on the podium that’s where I want to be. I want to win. I set the standard pretty high,” said Reardon, who got a shoelace caught in the shaft a tractor on the family farm in Temora at age 12 which severed his right leg through the knee.

“But it’s been a rough couple of years.

“But I have the experience and skill even though people are running faster than me.”

Para-athlete Scott Reardon at the Oceania title.

Tough thanks to an Achilles injury followed by a hamstring injury and then training restrictions due to Covid-19 and associated lack of international competition.

“I feel like things are getting better and I’m finally going in the right direction,” he said.

“I know I have a history to get to the end first.

“When I step on the line I will be ready.”

Reardon’s blade is just 2.5kg top to bottom but he now adds weight to the bottom to help him “feel it” better.

“When it went to light blades I lost feeling as to where the blade was,” said Reardon whose uncle Steve played for the Canterbury Bulldogs.

“The lead is just duct taped to the foot.

“I have a knee joint and a foot you can’t feel. Take that weight out and there’s nothing.

“It’s the location of the weight that is important. Having the right weight in the right location is critical.”

Daniel Wagner of Denmark, Richard Whitehead of Great Britain and Scott Reardon of Australia in the 100m final in Rio.

Reardon and his wife, jumper Vanessa Low, are coached by Ukrainian Iryna Dvoskina and part of a top squad of athletes who have been working out of Canberra.

The Tokyo Paralympic Games are the largest ever with 4400 athletes from 176 countries.

In all there are 540 medal events in 22 sports.

The new sports on the program are Badminton and taekwondo.

There are eight physical impairment types, one intellectual impairment and one vision impairment class racing in Tokyo.

Read more from AMANDA LULHAM HERE

Originally published as Tokyo Paralympics: Blade runner Scott Reardon out to extend golden run