The Tokyo 100m T38 champion missed out on the podium at the 2024 Paralympics by the narrowest of margins because he wanted a coach there to support him before the race.
Thomas Young made his debut at the age of 18, winning gold in both the T38 100m and 200m at the 2018 Para European Championships in Berlin. Building on that early success, he won Paralympic gold in Tokyo aged just 21, and then began preparing to defend his title in Paris.
However, on Saturday (August 31), the 23-year-old narrowly missed out on a 100m podium place, finishing fourth in a hotly contested race as he clocked 11.00 (0.9).
The world record – 10.64 – was set by American Jadin Blackwell, who won the gold. Blackwell’s teammate Ryan Medrano secured the silver medal and the photo finished third, while Colombia’s Juan Alejandro Campos Sanchez edged Young for the bronze medal.
“It will take time to develop,” Young said. “I’ve really developed as an athlete over the last 15 months and I’ve been working so hard towards Paris, which really hurts not winning a medal.
“It’s tough now, but we’ll get there and I crossed the line unscathed. I wasn’t a champion in Paris, but the ambition doesn’t change because we’re now working in Los Angeles.
“It was still a fantastic race to be a part of. I knew going into it that it would take around 10.6/10.7 to win and I would need to run sub 11 to medal. So everything that happened, I was waiting for, and I’m really upset that I couldn’t be on the podium this time.
“It was an off day and me and my coach know that. I’ve seen my training for the last 15 months, but the whole world only sees me for 11 seconds so I know exactly where I’m at and what I can work on.”
Thomas Young (River)
At age 12, Young was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type one, a condition that can cause non-cancerous tumors to grow along the nerves and can affect coordination.
However, it wasn’t until the age of 17 that he discovered his disability qualified him as a para-sprinter. This realization came when his coach Joe McDonnell suggested it to him.
Since then, Young has continued to train under McDonnell’s guidance, forming a bond that goes beyond just coach and athlete. “He knows exactly how I’m thinking, he knows how to talk to me, how to prepare me and how to make me less nervous,” Young said.
However, just before the final in Paris, Young began to experience leg cramps while in the call room, something he is more prone to as he lets on.
His trainer is usually the one to deal with his cramps before a race, but he was not allowed in the call room in Paris and instead had to sit in the stands, making it Young’s first time in the call room alone.
Thomas Young (IPC)
“In Tokyo I had Joe by my side in the warm-up and that was something that was not possible in the final in Paris. It threw me off a bit because I got a leg cramp and if Joe was around he would have known exactly how to make me feel to get ready to run.
“Because of our flaws and the way our muscles move when we’re nervous, especially during big events like this, our muscles can play more than other people.
“It was the first time I defended a title on the world stage and everyone feels the pressure. You have a really big X on your back when you win those titles when everyone else is trying to beat you.
“But my coach wasn’t allowed to be with me on the night of the final or in the village which was upsetting and if I could have changed one thing about my final it would have been to have him there. I’ve known him for seven years and he knows me so well.
“We understand each other and I think that’s why I know it’s going to be an incredible journey working towards the next Paralympic Games.”
Zach Skinner, Zach Shaw, and Thomas Young (Getty)
Before competing in Paris, Young competed in the London Diamond League, where he finished third in the men’s 100m breaststroke behind Great Britain’s Zac Skinner and Zac Shaw.
Young posted a 10.92 (0.9) on the day, setting a personal best and a national record. While it’s rare to see athletes from different classifications competing against each other, these sprinters relish the opportunity to push each other to their limits.
Skinner and Shaw are also part of the British Paralympic team. Skinner recently finished sixth in the T13 100m final, running 10.93 (-0.1) and will compete in the long jump final on September 7.
Shaw, competing in her first Paralympics, also narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing fourth in the T12 100m final in 10.94 (-0.3).
“Even though we’re all competitors when we play in the Diamond League, we’re all in different classifications and we all tend to run around the same times to beat each other.
“In para-sprinting, there aren’t hundreds of people in each classification, so the only time we can have a really good close race is in the Diamond League.
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“Being able to have Zach Shaw, Zach Skinner, Kevin Santos and Emmanuel Oyinbo-Coker, four world-class athletes to compete against, always makes for an incredible race for us and the spectators.
“Hopefully next season we can have another great run together at the Indoor Tour and the Indoor British Champs and then we can do the same outdoors.”
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