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Russell Short

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Russell Short
2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait of Short
Personal information
Full nameRussell Luke Short
NationalityAustralian
Born7 May 1969 (1969-05-07) (age 55)
Poowong, Victoria
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Medal record
Athletics
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1988 Seoul Men's Discus B3
Gold medal – first place 1988 Seoul Men's Javelin B3
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona Men's Discus B3
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona Men's Shot Put B3
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Men's Shot Put F12
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Men's Discus Throw F12
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta Men's Discus F12
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta Men's Shot Put F12
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul Men's Shot Put B3
Bronze medal – third place 1992 Barcelona Men's Javelin B3
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Men's Shot Put F13
Bronze medal – third place 2012 London Men's Shot Put F11/12
IPC Athletics World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1994 Berlin Men's Shot Put F12
Gold medal – first place 1994 Berlin Men's Discus F12
Silver medal – second place 1998 Birmingham Men's Discus F12
Silver medal – second place 2002 Lille Men's Discus F12
Silver medal – second place 2006 Assen Men's Shot Put F12
Silver medal – second place 2011 Christchurch Men's Shot Put F12
World Championships and Games for the Disabled
Gold medal – first place 1990 Assen Men's Shot Put B3
Gold medal – first place 1990 Assen Men's Discus B3

Russell Luke Short, OAM[2] (born 7 May 1969)[3] is an Australian legally blind athlete, who has competed at eight Paralympics from 1988 to 2016 and won six gold, two silver and four bronze medals at the Games. He competes in discus, javelin, and shot put.[4]

Personal

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Russell Luke Short was born on 7 May 1969 in the Victorian town of Poowong.[3][5] He has 2% peripheral vision due to macular degeneration, which first began to affect him at the age of four and a half; his brother also has the disease.[6] He attended Korumburra Secondary College.[5] He played many sports in high school, including swimming, diving, and basketball, but he could no longer participate in these sports as his sight gradually became more impaired. He took up discus and shot put because he found he enjoyed throwing things.[7]

In 1993, he kayaked across the Torres Strait from Cape York to New Guinea as part of a team of four men including Paralympian Ched Towns, and also walked the Kokoda Track with them. These experiences were recounted in the 1995 documentary The Blind Leading The Blind and the 2004 book Blind leading the blind : a journey of vision across the Torres Strait and Kokoda track.[8][9]

He lives in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Huntly with his wife, Christine, who is also legally blind, and two sons, Jim and Will.[3][10] He works as a massage therapist.[3]

Career

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Short throwing the discus during discus F12 competition at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. Short won gold in this event.
Short on the medal podium at the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics

Short began his competitive career in 1982.[3] His first Paralympic Games were the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, where he won two gold medals in the Men's Discus B3 and Men's Javelin B3 events, and a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put B3 event.[11]

In 1988, he became the first disabled person to receive a scholarship from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).[12] In 1990, while being coached by AIS Throws Coach Merv Kemp, he broke the discus B2 world record twice.[13] He competed in the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled, Assen, Netherlands winning gold medals in the Men's Shot Put and Discus B3 events.[14]

In the 1992 Barcelona Games, he won two gold medals in the Men's Discus B3 and Men's Shot Put B3 events, for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia,[2] and a bronze medal in the Men's Javelin B3 event.[11]

In the 1996 Atlanta Games, he won two silver medals in the Men's Discus F12 and Men's Shot Put F12 events.[11] He won two gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Games, setting a world record in the Men's Discus Throw F12 event and a Paralympic Games record in the Men's Shot Put F12 event.[15] In the 2004 Athens Games, he won a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F13 event and came fifth in the Men's Discus F12 event.[11][16] Six weeks before winning the bronze medal, he had fallen off a two-meter wall and broken his arm.[17]

Short at the 2012 London Paralympics

Short carried the Australian flag during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Games.[10] At the Games, he came sixth in the Men's Shot Put F11/12 event.[18] He won a silver medal in the Discus event at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. In a February 2011 interview shortly after the Championships, he said: "Things are starting to fall apart, particularly my shoulder, but with a lot of changes to the way I train and a lot of physio, I'm confident I'll be right".[19]

At the 2012 London Paralympics, Short won a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F11/12 event.[11] At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he finished seventh in the Men's Shot Put F12.[20]

In April 2017, Short was awarded the Athletics Australia Edwin Flack Award for 2016.[21]

At the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London, England, his eight championship, he finished fifth in the Men's Shot Put F12 with a throw of 14.29 m and seventh in the Men's Discus F12 with a throw of 39.31  m.[22][23]

References

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  1. ^ "Short, Russell". Athletics Australia. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Short, Russell Luke". It's An Honour. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Russell Short". Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Australian Paralympic Athletics Team announced". Australian Paralympic Committee News. 2 August 2016. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Some of our past staff or students and their stories" (PDF). Korumburra Secondary College. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  6. ^ "13 July 2011 Meeting" (PDF). Chadstone / East Malvern Rotary Club. 13 July 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  7. ^ "SHORT Russell". International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Blind Leading The Blind (1995)". Screen Australia. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  9. ^ Blind leading the blind : a journey of vision across the Torres Strait and Kokoda track. 2004. ISBN 9781741101799. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ a b "Stalwart delighted to fly flag for team". The Australian. 6 September 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Russell Short". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  12. ^ "Athletes with a Disability". Australian Institute of Sport. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  13. ^ Australian Sports Commission Annual Report 1989-1990 (PDF). Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. p. 40. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  14. ^ World Championships and Games for the Disabled – Athletics Results. Netherlands: Organising Committee. 1990.
  15. ^ "Australian Honour Roll". Australian Paralympic Committee Annual Report 2010. Australian Paralympic Committee: 10. 2010.
  16. ^ "Men's Discus F12 Results". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  17. ^ "Gold came with pain". Townsville Bulletin. 23 September 2004. p. 51.
  18. ^ "Men's Shot Put F11/12 Results". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  19. ^ Eva, Bruce (20 February 2011). "Short still a big shot". The Sunday Age. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  20. ^ "Russell Short". Rio Paralympics Official site. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  21. ^ "Short and Petrie honoured with Edwin Flack Award". Athletics Australia website. 13 April 2017. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  22. ^ Ryner, Sascha (23 July 2017). "A trio of gold medals bolsters Australia's medal tally". Athletics Australia News. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  23. ^ Ryner, Sascha. "Three from three for Turner as Team Australia finish with 28 medals". Athletics Australia News, 24 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
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