top of page

Indoor Season 2020

When it comes to indoor races for disabled athletes there aren't any major international competitions. I think this is a real shame - able bodied athletes get a chance to compete against their international counterparts throughout the winter season, but para-athletes don't! Having to race against mainly able bodied athletes over 60m can be difficult, their starts tend to be a lot faster than mine, which can lead me to panic early on in the race, and as it's over such a short distance, the start matters even more than in the 100m!

Psychologically (for me) it's always tricky when racing against predominantly able bodied athletes, this is probably a lot to do with internalised ablism*. The self belief and confidence I have within myself when competing against people in my category cannot be replicated when I have to race those with no physical impairments - even if my PB is faster than theirs, there is a part of me that will refuse to believe I have a chance at winning! I'm often shocked and surprised when I don't come last in an event where I'm the only disabled athlete, it is a nice feeling I have to admit. Another positive to come from racing against able bodied people is that it means I can't really compare my times to theirs (though I often can't help myself), because it's not as if they will be at the Paralympics or the Para-World Championships!

I'm pleased with how my indoor season has gone, I raced a total of 5 times and got a new 60m Personal Best of 8.42, down from 8.47 - not a massive improvement, but a PB none the less! I raced once in Cardiff and four times in Newham (well, I only went to Newham twice, but they let you race two times for the low price of £6! I only got to race once in Cardiff and entry was £11!- don't know if anyone is interested in how much it costs to enter an open meet but there you go). Indoor times can be useful indicators of what is come in the summer, so hopefully a few sub 13s and a new 100m PB are in my not too distant future.

* Internalised ableism (like internalised homophobia/racism/misogyny etc.) is the concept that because for so many years society has oppressed and degraded certain minority groups, the negative ideas and feelings surrounding these minorities persist in the minds of EVERYONE - even the people in those minorities. This might be why so many people struggle to identify as Disabled, because for our whole lives we have been told (explicitly and implicitly) that being disabled is a bad thing!


bottom of page