After winning eight medals on the world stage, Tasmania’s 1500m Paralympian Deon Kenzie will tackle his first marathon

Deon Kenzie was told he would never amount to much but with two Paralympic Games medals and a world championship gold, dynamic Deon reveals how he proved his doubters wrong.

Tasmanian para-athlete Deon Kenzie after winning a bronze medal in Japan last year. (Photo by Paul Miller/Getty Images)

Tasmania’s para-athlete sensation Deon Kenzie has called time on his glittering track career and looking back the world championship gold medalist has a powerful message for aspiring athletes with a disability – lean into it.

Dashing Deon came through the ranks at a time when attitudes were not at a level of social standard and respect we expect today.

That did not stop him from becoming one of the world’s most formidable 1500m T38 (cerebral palsy) runners.

He has eight medals to prove it _ silver from the Rio Paralympic Games 2016, bronze at the Tokyo Games 2020, world championship gold and silver from London 2017, and world championship bronze from Lyon (2013), Doha (2015), Dubai (2019) and Kobe (2024).

PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 17: Nate Riech of Canada competes against Angus Hincksman, Deon Kenzie and Reece Langdon of Australia in the Men's 1500m T38 Final. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

Deon’s bronze at the para worlds in Japan last year was his final run on the world stage and in becoming a bronzed Aussie for the fifth time he also completed the quota Australia needed to qualify for the next Paralympic Games.

“Having my family, coaches and friends there made it a moment I’ll never forget,” he said.

“And in its own way was important – it represented all the hard work that went into overcoming the challenges of those years leading up to it.”

As an impressionable teenager, Deon, now 29, of Devonport, was asked what he would do when he left school.

“I remember sitting in class, I think it was in year nine, and my teacher asked me what I wanted to do and I said I wanted to be a professional athlete,” Kenzie said.

“I remember them actually telling me I may as well go live in a cave.”

It could have been a mentally crippling blow to a 15-year-old kid.

Not Deon.

LONDON, ENGLAND - Deon Kenzie of Australia celebrates winning gold in the final of the mens 1500m T38 during day nine of the IPC World ParaAthletics Championships 2017 at London Stadium on July 22, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt - British Athletics/British Athletics via Getty Images)

“I am an optimistic person and I remember more the people who supported me,” he said.

“There were definitely some who didn’t think I would amount to much.

“I had a sports teacher who encouraged me to pursue my running.

“Role models like that early on when you are still trying to figure out your path just reinforces what you are doing is right.

“It can really make a big difference.”

It took most of his school years to work out who he was and where he was going.

“It was challenging through high school when you have a disability,” he said.

“When I got classified [with cerebral palsy], and I think I was in year 10, I was obviously a young guy still trying to figure it out, my identity and where I belonged in the world.

“Not only have I got this wonderful opportunity in sport, I was also coming out and identifying as someone with a disability.

“For a long time disability had been something that people haven’t particularly been able to know how to approach.

“Early on I didn’t know how to approach it myself.

“In some ways there was a sense of shame there.

“It was something I learned to embrace as my journey continued.”

Deon was at “home” when he made his first representative team.

“I saw such a broad range of disabilities doing amazing things, it really did become something I learned to embrace,” he said.

“I really was proud of myself for having a disability and over time I learned the more you lean into those aspects of yourself, the ones you have to be a little bit more vulnerable about, it’s what people resonate with.

“At the end of the day we’ve all got things we wish were different but it’s really those things that make us human.”

TOKYO, JAPAN - SEPTEMBER 04: Deon Kenzie of Team Australia celebrates winning the bronze medal after competing in the Men's 1500m - T38 Final on day 11 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Olympic Stadium on September 04, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Deon has turned his attention to the road.

One of Australia’s most accomplished T38 track athletes, he is preparing for the Sydney Marathon on August 31 in the hope of setting a new world record for an athlete with cerebral palsy over the distance.

“As a distance runner in the Paralympics, the longest distance I can run is 1500m, there is no other event beyond that I could compete in,” he said.

“That was one of my main motivations for running a marathon.

“My hope was that if I can do a great time it can hopefully move the Paralympic movement forward and hopefully open up more opportunities for athletes with cerebral palsy in the future.”

Deon’s deeds have had a significant impact on para-sport in his home state.

“When I first got classified in 2012 there weren’t too many athletes with disability in Tasmania,” he said.

“That has grown now and we’ve got a really strong contingent of athletes coming through, particularly in athletics.

“That is one of the primary sports that people with a disability compete in.

“We had 11 compete at nationals this year, so from a small state that is impressive and that will only continue to grow.”

Tasmanian Paralympian Deon Kenzie after he announced his retirement. Picture: Jon Tuxworth

Deon is about to join the Tasmania Institute of Sport as a specialist mentor in para-sport.

In the meantime, when he goes running, Deon occasionally still sees that teacher.

“I just smile and keep on running.”