Richard whitehead why legs amputated

His Paralympic gold medal and the greater attention given to disabled athletes since have enabled him to get sponsorship for this endeavour. It's really important to have role models within Paralympic sport to sustain the impact and awareness of Paralympic athletics. So, how hard is he finding the challenge? A lot of the athletes who have finished their seasons are just relaxing at home but I'm putting in a thousand miles. I've missed my seven-month-old daughter, Zara, and it's nice to spend a bit of time with her before I get back on the road to smash the remaining fifteen days.

For an amputee, the fit of a prosthetic limb on the stump is all important and can make a huge difference to their comfort and ability to walk or run long distances. Painful sores are common and Richard had to swap to a hand-bike for three days of his tour after developing large blisters that wouldn't heal.

People with disabilities have barriers and obstacles to overcome every day and this is just one of them". I ask whether, given that he is so much faster at running than the vast majority of people, he considers his condition to be a disability at all? I'm just an athlete that's lucky enough to have gone to a games and won a gold medal.

It's really important because Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have supported me in the past and this is where I grew up. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. David Howe , Loughborough University. Author P. After the event, Owen Gibson wrote in The Guardian that Whitehead was: powered to victory with a stunning second half of the race as he stormed through the field with his prosthetic legs swinging from one side to the other.

London Paralympics Oscar Pistorius. I nearly got stuck in South Africa in January. I always go to South Africa to train in Stellenbosch for a month in January.

Then obviously the pandemic meant that the borders closed. I know it was late, but it closed and even though South Africa is far safer than the UK we literally had to fly through Ethiopia to get home, myself and my coach, and we did just before the borders closed. Covid measures are very stringent. As an athlete, if you or any close contacts are in the proximity of somebody that tests positive, you have to isolate.

What are you looking forward to the most at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, as well as aiming to secure the gold medals? The pandemic has really took the shine off Tokyo Often people hope outside of the games arena. I think people need to not focus too much about gold medals and focus on the resilience that Olympians and Paralympians had to show to just get to the start line, which has been really tough.

How did the Richard Whitehead Foundation start and what kind of support does it provide? The Richard Whitehead Foundation has got deeper roots than just amputees or young people that reflect me growing up. I want to have a foundation that provides not just sporting activity or physical education for young people but also to provide employment, volunteering and mentoring.

Plus, to educate the rest of the community about disability — around inclusion, around the inclusion spectrum and be the lead in the UK as a foundation for people with disabilities. I feel that we are not a one trick pony.

We have got so many gifted, talented trustees around the foundation. We do find that people with disabilities in middle class families are more equipped than some of those communities that have more than one minority barrier.

I want to go into those inner cities, into those minority groups who are of different religions, languages, genders, race and sexuality. What advice would you give to other disabled people inspiring to become Paralympic athletes? Follow Richard Whitehead on Twitter and Instagram. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensure the basic functionalities and security features of the website work. These cookies do not store any personal information.

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Advertisement cookies are used by us or third-parties to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide advertising that is more likely to be of interest to you. At the World Championships in London, Richard won m gold and m bronze. I finished the race in 5 hours 18 minutes and it was amazing. Thousands of people were pushing me to the finish line.

Their words of encouragement and support pulled me into the finish line from 20 miles — 26 miles. The feeling when I crossed the finish line was the best thing I have ever felt. The last mile was so emotional, my goal was in sight. I had achieved something that I never thought I could achieve.

I beat my previous time and ran in memory of Simon. I wanted to run faster, longer and stronger with goals that reflect that. Over the years, I continued to run marathons, ultra marathons, and do coast-to-coast runs all over the world. That was until I was told I was ineligible for the marathon in the greatest sporting event held in my own country: London The International Paralympic Committee IPC said that I wouldn't be able to compete in the marathon at the Paralympics as it is open only to arm amputee runners, and the classifications couldn't be mixed.

I wrote a letter to the IPC criticising their decision; the organisation is supposed to promote equality. My issue with Paralympic sport has been that certain events are exclusively available to certain people with certain impairments.

Sport is about choices and opportunities, not about categorisation and groupings. Encountering yet another barrier, I focused my attention on the metres. I won gold. I pointed to the sky and dedicated this to Simon.

I came and saw and conquered. That's why I gave the two-gun salute at the end. I've got all the support around me and that is why I'm successful. Many people say that I am an inspiration.