Katie Kelly hoping to make big impression as triathlon makes Paralympics debut in Rio

KATIE Kelly’s timing could not have been better. Just 18 months after being declared legally blind, she joins the first wave of triathletes at the Paralympics.

Katie Kelly and Michellie Jones have formed quite an impressive team.

WHEN Katie Kelly’s eye specialist told her 18 months ago her vision had deteriorated so far she was legally blind, the “weekend warrior” runner instantly saw opportunity.

“That afternoon I rang Triathlon Australia because I’d always wanted to do the Hawaiian Ironman,” Kelly says.

“But I’ve never been good enough to qualify for an age group, so I thought ‘what if I could get in on a vision impaired ticket? I might as well take a positive out of the situation.’

“The next day, (para-triathlon national manager) Kathryn Periac called back and pretty much asked ‘would you be interested in trying para-triathlon for the Rio Paralympics?’.

“And here I am.”

Kelly’s timing could not have been better.

The 41-year-old, born with a rare vision and hearing condition called Usher syndrome, will join the first wave of triathletes in Paralympics competition when the sport makes its Games debut this year.

Though Australia’s para-triathlon squad has not yet been formally announced, Kelly qualified in her PT5 classification when she won the world championship in Chicago in September.

She competes as a vision-impaired athlete, carrying short-sightedness as well as degenerative “tunnel vision” that now limits her to about 30 per cent eyesight.

“I’ve heard someone describe it as being like the end of the old Looney Tunes cartoons, where the dark part around the edge tunnels in. Although that’s not very uplifting — ‘That’s all folks’,” she laughs.

Kelly is a long-time runner, having competed in marathons and half-marathons ranging from New York and Sydney to Alice Springs. She also completed the iconic Port Macquarie Ironman in 2013, before her legal blindness diagnosis.

“I was never going to finish before dark, I’m not that fast,” she says.

“So I started the marathon run about 4pm and my coach joined me about 5.30pm with a torch and ran in front of me to make sure no-one was coming my way.”

Katie Kelly takes some great form into the Olympic event.

Kelly, living in Canberra and training at the Australian Institute of Sport, will have a disadvantage over many rivals in her vision-impaired class in Rio — triathlon’s opening water leg means she cannot wear the hearing aids she has needed since she was five, giving her minimal hearing across the 750m swim, 20km ride and 5km run.

But she also has a supreme advantage — her pairing with her on-course guide, two-time triathlon world champion and 2000 Olympic silver medallist Michellie Jones.

“I’ve always loved the sport so for me to have Michellie Jones as a guide is like if you’re a swimmer and find out Ian Thorpe is going to be your mentor,” she says.

“I was just so lucky to get a guide of that calibre. For me to line up with my competitors on the day, it feels so good to have Michellie by my side. She’s someone who’s done it at the top of the sport at the most high-pressure point of the Sydney Olympics.

“It’s a big advantage to have this outstanding athlete who is tactically racing the race for you.”

Jones, 46, is based in the United States and will meet up with Kelly in Florida for an intensive three-week pre-Games camp before the event.

Before last year’s world championship success, the pair also won their maiden triathlon in Japan, having met only four days earlier.

But Kelly says their immediate success is no guide to Paralympic medal chances.

“There were a couple of teams that were undefeated before we came along last year,” Kelly says.

“I know that really fired them up, so they’ll be really strong competitors. It will be a tough race but if we do the small things right, with Michellie’s experience and if I can keep a level head, we should do okay.”

Originally published as Katie Kelly hoping to make big impression as triathlon makes Paralympics debut in Rio