- Jaryd Clifford denied another Paralympic medal
- The Australian runner was disqualified from the 5000m over the weekend
- He was 0.01 seconds away from bronze in Paris
Jaryd Clifford is cursing his luck after adding to the pain of his 5000m disqualification was the fact that the Australian finished fourth in the 1500m by one-hundredth of a second.
Clifford clocked 3:44.95 on Tuesday in Paris, but was beaten by Russian runner Anton Kuliatin, who is competing for the Neutral Paralympic team and ran 3:44.94.
The narrow defeat in the 1500m T13 came after Clifford believed she had secured a Paralympic bronze medal three days earlier in the 5000m.
But three days earlier, as he was leaving the track at the Stade de France, the 25-year-old, who is visually impaired, was told his result would not be valid.
Clifford had been disqualified because he let go of the strap that was connecting him to guide Matt Clarke as they crossed the finish line.
“It’s almost so ridiculous it’s funny,” Clifford said.
“A disqualification in the last metre and 0.01, it’s crazy, it’s three years of work and the last metre of both races can define everything. It’s quite brutal.”
Clifford was distraught after his disqualification while Kuliatin was promoted to the bronze medal.
Jaryd Clifford suffered another disappointment at the Paris Paralympics
The Australian runner finished fourth by 0.01 seconds in the 1500m final.
He was disqualified from the 5000m at the weekend for breaking free from his leash.
And the Russian was again the man to pip Clifford to the podium, despite the Victorian charging towards the finish in desperation for a medal.
“(In the 5000m), I had a mental lapse about a metre from the finish, I dropped the leash – it was probably the laziest moment of my career,” said Clifford, who does not use a guide in the 1500m.
“I just wanted to cross that line. I wish I had made the jump earlier, but that’s sport, man… it’s very hard, four years to go back to the drawing board.”
Clifford, who won two silver medals in Tokyo, is desperate to mark his career with a gold.
“I’m still younger than (Yassine) Ouhdadi, the Spaniard when he won his first gold medal and now he’s won a lot,” Clifford said.
‘I’ll be in Brisbane, I’m not even going to limit myself to that, I love racing so I’ll still be going.
“I hope one day I can come here (and talk to reporters) and be excited, but I’m starting to feel a bit like déjà vu.”
