Russell Luke Short, OAM (born 7 May 1969) 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 A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

, and

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

Personal

Russell Luke Short was born on 7 May 1969 in the Victorian town of

Poowong Poowong is a small dairying town located in Gippsland#South Gippsland, South Gippsland, in the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. At the , Poowong had a population of 360. It is from Melbour ...

. 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. He attended Korumburra Secondary College. 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. 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 The Kokoda Track or Trail is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs overland – in a straight line – through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanese ...

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''. He lives in the Melbourne suburb of

Glen Huntly Glen Huntly is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, He works as a massage therapist.

Career

291000 - Athletics field discus F12 Russell Short gold action 3 - 3b - 2000 Sydney event photo

Russell Short on Barcelona 1992 Paralympics medal podium

Short began his competitive career in 1982. 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. In 1988, he became the first disabled person to receive a scholarship from the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(AIS). In 1990, while being coached by AIS Throws Coach Merv Kemp, he broke the discus B2 world record twice. 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. In the

1992 Barcelona Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, 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, and a bronze medal in the Men's Javelin B3 event. In the

1996 Atlanta Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, he won two silver medals in the Men's Discus F12 and Men's Shot Put F12 events. He won two gold medals at the

2000 Sydney Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, 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. In the

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, he won a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F13 event and came fifth in the Men's Discus F12 event. Six weeks before winning the bronze medal, he had fallen off a two-meter wall and broken his arm. Short carried the Australian flag during the opening ceremony of the

2008 Beijing Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. At the Games, he came sixth in the Men's Shot Put F11/12 event. He won a silver medal in the Discus event at the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ove1000 athlet ...

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". At the 2012 London Paralympics, Short won a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put F11/12 event. At the

2016 Rio Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, he finished seventh in the Men's Shot Put F12. In April 2017, Short was awarded the Athletics Australia Edwin Flack Award for 2016. At the

2017 World Para Athletics Championships The 2017 World Para Athletics Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held at London Stadium in London from 14 to 23 July 2017. It wa ...

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.

References

External links