Scott Peter Reardon, (born 15 May 1990) is an Australian Paralympic leg amputee sprinter and water skier. He won water skiing world championships in 2007 and 2009. He represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in athletics, winning a silver medal in the Men's 100 m T42. 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 went one placing better to win the gold medal. Reardon has won the Men's 100 m T42 in three consecutive

World Para Athletics Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

, from 2013 to 2017. He competed at the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic ...

, his third games.

Personal

Reardon was born on 15 May 1990 in

Temora, New South Wales Temora () is a town in the north-east of the Riverina area of New South Wales, south-west of the state capital, Sydney. At the the population of Temora was 4,693. Temora has been reported as being the friendliest town in New South Wales, foll ...

. Reardon grew up on his family's property near

. In 2002, Reardon got his shoelace caught in the power take off shaft of a tractor and severed his right leg through the knee. He spent a month in hospital recovering and amazed doctors by relearning to walk in just one week. He continued to water-ski on one leg, representing Australia three times at the Water-Skiing World Championships and winning the world title twice in 2007 and 2009. Growing up in the country NSW town of Temora, sport has long played a prominent role in Reardon's life. The nephew of former

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

NRL player

Steve Reardon Steve Reardon (born 5 August 1971) is a former professional rugby league footballer. He played his entire career for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs as a and . Background Reardon was born in Temora, New South Wales, Australia. Playing ca ...

, Scott Reardon was the 2005 Temora and District Sportsperson of the Year. In 2006, he attended a Paralympic Talent Search day and was immediately identified as having the potential to run on the track at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Watching the Australian Team compete at the Beijing Paralympic Games further inspired Reardon to pursue his talent for running. After juggling water skiing and athletics for a while, he moved to Canberra in 2009 to train at 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) and focus on his athletics career. At the AIS, he trained alongside his sporting heroes, former track star and gold medallist

Heath Francis Heath Wesley Francis, OAM (born 16 November 1981 in Newcastle, New South Wales is an Australian athlete who has participated in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Summer Paralympics. His right arm was amputated at the age of seven as a result of a min ...

and gold medallist and world record holder

Evan O'Hanlon Evan George O'Hanlon, (born 4 May 1988) is an Australian Paralympic athlete, who competes mainly in category T38 sprint events. He has won five gold medals at two Paralympic Games – 2008 Beijing and 2012 London. He also represented Austral ...

. With less than a year of training he finished third in the 200m and fourth in the 100m at the 210 National Athletics Championships in Perth. At the 2011 World Championships in Christchurch, Reardon finished fourth in the 100m sprint and fifth in the 200m, signalling his medal credentials for London 2012. Down the track, Reardon has firm intentions to add a Paralympic gold medal to his sporting resume. Reardon earned the Commonwealth Sport Achievement Awards in 2007. In 2009, he relocated to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. In 2012, he was a student at the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

where he was working on a Bachelor of Secondary Education in Design and Technology. His partner is Paralympic athlete

Vanessa Low Vanessa Low (born 17 July 1990) is a German-born Australian Paralympic athlete competing in T42 sprint and long jump events. Born in East Germany, she gained Australian nationality in June 2017. In 2016, Low was the only actively competing f ...

. In 2018, Reardon part of the

National Farmers' Federation The National Farmers' Federation (NFF) is an Australian non-profit membershipbased organization that represents farmers and the agricultural sector in Australia. Historically, NFF was a key player in a number of industrial relations disputes, inc ...

Safe Hands campaign.

Water ski

His parents have provided monetary support to help him waterski. Reardon has competed in his state's able bodied water skiing competition, and was the first person with a disability to win it. He competed at the 2007 Disabled World Championships in Townsville, where he earned a gold medal For the jump event. In 2009, he competed at the Australian Tournament Waterski disabled titles, where he earned a trio of gold medals. At the 2009 World Water Ski Championships, he won jump and overall.

Athletics

Paralympic athlete Scott Reardon at the AIS Track and Field

Reardon is a T42 classified athlete. He is based at the

where he is coached by

Iryna Dvoskina Iryna Dvoskina (born 22 December 1958) is a Ukraine-born Australian athletics coach who works with Paralympic athletes. Biography Being an only child, she came to Australia in 2003 to be closer to her mother Fira (born 20 September 1934), who h ...

. He was active in sport before his accident and was concerned following his accident that he would not be able to run again. He was representing Australia in 2007 in the 100-metre event. He competed 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 ...

making three finals but not winning a medal. At the 2012 London Paralympics, he won a silver medal in the Men's 100 m T42 and placed fourth in the Men's 200 m T42. At the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, France, he won a gold medal in the Men's 100 m and a silver medal in the Men's 200m T42 events. He dead heated with

Heinrich Popow Heinrich Popow (born 14 July 1983) is a German sprinter. At the Paralympics 2012 in London he won Gold in 100 metres sprint. During his career he has been the World and European Champion in 100 metres sprint and World Champion in the long jum ...

from Germany in the Men's 100 m final. The rivalry between Reardon and Popow was highlighted by Reardon stating: "0.03 seconds separated Heinrich and I coming into this championship in terms of personal best, and today we can't even be split. The last three races we have been in we have been separated by a total of 0.05 seconds highlighting how good this rivalry is." At the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, Reardon won the Men's 100 m T42 in 12.13 (w: +0.3). After winning the 100 m, Reardon said: "You come to championships to win championships and that’s the most important thing. I probably didn’t get the time I wanted, but when people look back, how I got there won’t matter. It will just show me as world champion, and that’s so exciting." He finished fourth in the Men's 200 m T42 in a time of 25.43 (w: 0.0). . Reardon won the gold medal in the Men's 100 m T42 at the

in a Paralympic record time of 12.26. He was awarded the

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 2017. 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 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Reardon won his third consecutive Men's 100 m T42 title with a time of 12.21. At the

, Reardon came fourth in his 100m T63 heat and qualified for the final. He failed to win a medal coming fifth in the final. Reardon announced his retirement from competitive athletics in October 2021. He said "My retirement has been a long time coming. I've been preparing for retirement since 2017 as I knew the end of my career was coming closer, but it was important to me to finish my career at a Paralympic Games because it is the pinnacle of what we do. To do that with (wife and fellow Paralympic gold medallist)

Vanessa Vanessa may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Vanessa'' (Millais painting), an 1868 painting by Pre-Raphaelite artist John Everett Millais * ''Vanessa'', a 1933 novel by Hugh Walpole * ''Vanessa'', a 1952 instrumental song written by Bernie ...

(Low) was the number one priority for me, as we had always dreamed of being on an Australian team together."

References

External links

* *
Scott Reardon
at Australian Athletics Historical Results
Scott Reardon website

Scott Reardon bounces back Channel Seven interview 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reardon, Scott Paralympic athletes of Australia Living people 1994 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Australian water skiers Australian Institute of Sport Paralympic track and field athletes Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Amputee category Paralympic competitors Australian amputees Articles containing video clips Australian male sprinters Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) People from the Riverina Sportsmen from New South Wales