Jaryd Clifford

BIOGRAPHY

The sheer joy of running seems to be written on Jaryd Clifford’s face every time he pulls on the singlet and shoes.

In 2021 with the delayed Paralympic on the horizon, Jaryd Clifford was training well in Canberra under coach Philo Saunders. When competition resumed, he compiled a series of qualify 1500m times, through the summer season where he not only set PBs but broke the T12 1500m world record. In April 2021 he shocked the running community when helping to pace a marathon for one of his role models Michael Roeger, he decided to finish the race and broke the world record with a stunning time of 2:19.08.

At his second Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Jaryd finished on the podium in all three of his events, the T13 1500m, T13 5000m and T12 marathon. He won bronze, silver and silver respectively in the three events. His three-medal haul in individual events, was the most by an Aussies male since the 2008 Paralympics.

In May 2023 he was selected in the Australian World Para Athletics Team to compete in T13 1500m and 5000m, however he opted to compete in just the longer event, claiming silver in a time of 15:18.23.

He was selected for his fifth world championships in Kobe in May 2024. He placed sixth in both the 1500m (3:55.63) and 5000m (15:15.41) events. Later in 2024 he was selected for his third Paralympics where he will compete in the T13 1500m and 5000m. A month prior to the Games, he was in blistering form in the 1500m clocking 3:41.60 in the UK, fractionally outside his three-year-old PB.

But Paris would be a challenging experience for Jaryd. In his first event, the 5000m, he was 3rd across the line, and it looked like he had won Australia’s first track and field medal of the Games. But he would be disqualified when it was discovered the tether between Jaryd and his guide, Olympian Matthew Clarke, was released just before the line.

Next event for Jaryd would be the 1500m. In a very close finish, where half a second would separate the top-4, Jaryd missed the podium by 0.01 seconds. In a cruel twist, the athlete who pipped Jaryd for the 1500m bronze was the same athlete who was elevated to the T13 5000m bronze when the Australian was disqualified.

Nine months after the Paralympics, there would be another blow for Jaryd, when it was announced the Spanish athlete, Yassine Ouhdadi El Ataby, who won the T13 5000m title in Paris would be stripped of the gold medal and suspended for three years for failing a performance-enhancing drug test.

Clifford released a statement in June 2025:

“It’s hard to find the words for this, but I’ll try. I’m pretty shattered. My races against Yassine have changed my life. It’s taken a lot of strength to move forward from these moments in my career, particularly that race in Paris last year. Without Yassine in that 5000m, it’s hard not to think about how different that last lap might have played out. Everything leading into that race was about beating him and only when he past us on that last lap did everything begin to unravel. To think that holding on for a silver that day would be a gold today feels like another kick in the guts.

“I’m determined to keep my focus on the future. I had always reflected on those moments with sadness and frustration, but I learnt a lot from falling short too. No matter how much you revise the official results you can never change how a race made you feel. When I dream of winning a gold medal, I don’t dream about the dot-point on the resume. I dream about the moment crossing the line knowing that all the hard work finally paid off. I can’t control the past, but I can control the chance I give myself to fight for those moments in the future.”

His 2025 campaign has been terrific, highlighted by breaking his own T13 1500m world record, clocking 3:40.39 in late May in France.

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Diamond Valley young gun, Jaryd Clifford, began to lose his eyesight at the age of three. He had been diagnosed with early-onset vitelliform macular dystrophy.

As a long-distance runner at school, Jaryd competed against able-bodied athletes his age at the 2012 Australian Junior Athletics Championships. Although he placed 61st, Jaryd was incredibly proud of his result, as he was one of only a handful of participants that did not have a coach, nor had he started training properly. Realising his natural ability, Jaryd enlisted in Little Athletics for two seasons before joining the Diamond Valley athletics club, where Max Balchin coached him.

Jaryd made his debut for Australia at the 2015 IPC World Championships in Doha, where he placed seventh in the 5000m. Although he matched this result at the 2016 Paralympic Games, Jaryd shaved 48.38 seconds off the time and set an Oceania record in the 1500m.

Jaryd compiled an extraordinary 2016/17 summer season, slashing seconds from his personal bests and just missing the T12 1500m world record with a time of 3:49.05. He turned 18 just before the 2017 World Para-Athletics Championships where he magnificently won bronze in the T13 1500m in a time of 3:53.31. In early 2018 he broke the men’s 1500m T12 world record at the 2018 Sydney Grand Prix. His performance also earned him selection for the World Athletics U20 World Championships. Becoming the first Australian Paralympian to compete at an able-bodied world championship.

At the 2019 Para-Athletics World Championships in Dubai, Jaryd was unstoppable, winning gold in the T13 1500m (3:47.78) and 5000m (14:40.40).

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Running with a vision impairment has its challenges, and as Jaryd’s sight deteriorates, he must continue to adapt. He is now running with a guide, best mate and long-time training partner Tim Logan, and because they have run together for years, they already naturally take the same strides. If ever there was a dynamic duo, these two are it, and it is a partnership which is serving him well. For the marathon in Tokyo, Jaryd required two guides, so Canberra training partner Vincent Donnadieu joined the Clifford team.

@ 22 Sept 2025 david.tarbotton@athletics.org.au