PARIS: Australian distance runner Jaryd Clifford has raised suspicion about the cleanliness of para-sport and called for more drug testing to be carried out after he completed his Paralympic campaign.
But the vision-impaired 25-year-old says he’s not fazed by Russian athletes competing at the Olympics and Paralympics, albeit as “neutrals”, which he is highly qualified to speak on given a Russian beat him to bronze on two occasions in Paris.
Three days after crossing the finish line of the men’s T13 5000m in third place before being stripped of bronze due to a disqualification, Clifford fell short of bronze by just 0.01 of a second in the T13 1500m at the Stade de France on Tuesday.
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On both of those heartbreaking occasions, bronze was claimed by Russia’s Anton Kuliatin.
The Russian finished the 5000m in fourth place but was handed bronze after Clifford was disqualified because he and guide Matt Clarke were not both holding the tether, a small piece of rope, when they crossed the finish line.
Clifford was asked in the media mixed zone what he thought about Russia’s presence at the Paris Games, which led him to sharing his thoughts on that matter as well as raising unprompted his doping-related concern.
“If we’re talking about drugs and sport then I just really do hope they’re clean,” Clifford said.
“I would like to be drug tested more often. I don’t think there’s enough drug testing in para-sport. Like, I don’t get tested enough.
“So I think that could be something to improve our sport.
“But I think that’s a resource thing.”
Watch every moment, every medal of the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 live and free on Channel 9, 9Gem and 9Now. Plus, every event streaming ad free, live and on demand with 4K on Stan Sport.
While only 15 Russians competed at the Paris Olympics, 88 are in action at the Paralympics.
The fact they are Russian is not noted in any official communication and the Russian flag is not raised during medal ceremonies, nor is the Russian national anthem played when an athlete from the Vladimir Putin-run country wins gold.
“I trust the people who make the decisions [about Russia]. I trust them because if we can’t trust them the sport’s in a bad place, so I guess it’s trust out of good faith,” Clifford said.
“I think there is a place for boycotts in sport, but I think the boycotts should have to be fair across the board.
“I go in and everyone seems to be a nice person and I hope.
“They beat me, they exist on this planet and they’re better than me.
“I don’t have any hard feelings [about a Russian beating him for bronze].”
Clifford hit the track with heavy impact when he produced a huge lunge over the finish line in the 1500m.
Kuliatin, the Russian who edged him for bronze in the 5000m and 1500m, offered to help him off the ground.
“I’ve always prided myself on sportsmanship,” Clifford said.
“There’s all this Russia stuff, but at the end of the day we’re eight blokes with vision impairments and we’re middle-distance runners, so we’re a pretty niche group and there’s some camaraderie from that.”
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