Last night was a Gem. For the first time in a long while I entered an 800m race confident. I got a good lane draw and felt fast and sharp. In the call room however the drama began with the appearance of a new draw. I later found out that it was the original draw that had been over turned through a UK Athletics protest. But nobody told the officials and I got relegated to the inside lanes. As a distance guy this means that my choice and the only possible tactic for me was taken out of play. That is sit wide and cover more distance then the inside boys but finish at a higher speed.

I double check the draw and confirm that my name was assigned to the inside and a little confused and disappointed I go to the line. At that point an Aussie protest was lodged. The draw that was being used had been over turned (At UK Athletics request) and shouldn’t have seen the light of day. But the race starts, I get away, I get boxed and I try and push myself out of it for the 2 laps but only succeed in the last 50 metres. I literally had to jog a Paralympic Final. I was extremely disappointed but move into the medal ceremony to keep the show rolling and to move on and not dwell. 5 minutes before the ceremony begins I’m told its a rerun and were lining up again Tuesday.

Then it hits home. I know I could’ve won, I know it would have been a different race if the mistakes weren’t made. But at the end of the day I BELIEVE I was disadvantaged by the mistake. But Dave would DEFINITELY been disadvantaged by a re-run. So in the end we all started at the same time and the race that was held had one winner. And Dave was that guy fair and square. The whole thing was a debacle and neither Dave or I deserved that. So I discuss it with management and we decide that I wouldnt want the gold through a re-run anyway. The management did great by me and were really understanding! How you win is a thousand times more important then the medal itself. And for me that medal would have been tainted.

I feel like I’m turning into a bit of a Silversmith:) Till next time.

 Kurt