Jaryd Clifford (born 5 July 1999) is an Australian Paralympic, vision impaired, middle-distance athlete. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics. He won gold medals in the Men's 1500m and 5000m T13 events at the

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

. Clifford represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where he won silver medals in the Men's 5000m T13 and Men's Marathon T12, and a bronze medal in the Men's 1500 m T13. He competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.

Personal

Clifford was born on 5 July 1999. During primary school his eyesight deteriorated due to juvenile

macular degeneration Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred vision, blurred or vision loss, no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no sym ...

Athletics

Clifford is classified as a T12 athlete. In 2014, Clifford came 4th in the 3000m at the Australian All Schools Championships. He competed 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 ( ) 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 (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

and came 7th in the T12/13 3000m. In January 2016, his time of 3min 59.6s in the 1500m qualified him for the 2016 Rio Paralympics and he took 10 seconds off the Australian record for T12 athletes. The record had lasted for more than 30 years. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he finished seventh in both the Men's 1500m T13 and Men's 5000m T13 events. At the

2017 World Para Athletics Championships The 2017 World Para Athletics Championships were a Paralympic athletics, 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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, Clifford won the bronze medal in the Men's 1500m T13 in a time of 3:53.31. Clifford credited his altitude training and European racing with assisting him in winning a medal. At the Sydney Grand Prix on 18 March 2018, Clifford broke the Men's 1500m T12 world record with a time of 3:45.18. He lowered the previous world record of 3:48.31 set by Tunisia's Abderrahim Zhiou at the 2012 London Paralympics. At the

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, Clifford set a world record time of 3:47.78 in winning the gold medal in the Men's 1500m T13. Clifford with his two guides Tim Logan and Philo Saunders won the Men's 5000m T13. Clifford stated he needs guides for the 5000m due to his deteriorating eyesight making the event dangerous for him. In 2018, Clifford is a member of the Diamond Valley Athletic Club and

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

scholarship holder. In 2020, Jaryd made a permanent move to Canberra. In his first marathon on 25 April 2021, Clifford ran 2:19:08 to break the existing world record of 2:21:33. At the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, 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 Inte ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, he won silver medals in the Men's 5000m T13 and Men's Marathon T12, and a bronze medal in the Men's 1500 m T13. Despite a stress fracture in his left femur, Clifford won the silver medal in the Men's 5000m T13 at the

2023 World Para Athletics Championships The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was the 10th edition of the event and was held in the Charlety St ...

in Paris. In the lead up to the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

, Clifford finished sixth in the Men's 1500m and Men's 5000m T13 events at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe. His guides at the 2024 Paris Paralympics were Tim Logan and Matthew Clarke. He finished fourth in the Men's 1500 T13 with a season's best 3:44.95. In the Men's 5000 T13, he crossed the line in third place but was disqualified after dropping the tether to Matthew Clarke just near the finish line. His philosophy is "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced".

Marathon progression

Recognition

*2017 – Victorian Disability Sport and Recreation Awards – Marg Angel Junior Sportsperson of the Year *2018 –

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

Scholarship and mentored by Lauren Burns *2022 - Athletics Australia Russell Short Award for Male Para Athlete of the Year

References

External links

Jaryd Clifford
at Australian Athletics
Jaryd Clifford
at Australian Athletics Historical Results * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Jaryd 1999 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Australian blind people Living people Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic athletes for Australia Visually impaired-category Paralympic competitors World Para Athletics Championships winners Athletes from Melbourne 21st-century Australian sportsmen Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)