Richard has a tattoo on his shoulder. It reads: ‘Cometh the hour, Cometh the man’. The double amputee from Nottingham knows that London 2012 is that hour. And given his remarkable rise, first as a marathon runner and then as a sprinter, only a fool would bet against him living up to his own motto.
Richard, who runs on prosthetic carbon fibre legs, was banned from running against arm amputees in the marathon at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, in January 2011. However, he did compete in and win the 200m race. He’s in training for both races for London 2012 whilst he awaits the results of an appeal to the IPC.
Q: Which event do you think we’ll see you competing in at 2012?
RW: The decision is taken out of my hands. If there’s no marathon event at the 2012 Games then I will compete in the 200 metres. But I love wearing the GB vest and just competing. I’m lucky to be supported by Lloyds TSB, who have bought in to my journey. They’re always firing me information about National School Sport Week and Local Heroes, and asking my advice about that, training techniques and tips. It’s really powerful to know that they are at the end of a phone and are so supportive.
Q: How are your preparations for 2012 going?
RW: I’ve just come back from the World Championships where I won gold in the 200 metres, which is a massive achievement for me as an athlete. I put six years of hard work in to running marathons, and to transfer that to the track is very satisfying. I’m still working hard on marathons. I’ve done 2:42 which is the World Record for marathon. But I’m not happy with that. even though the marathon is not a Paralympic event. Hopefully that will change. Winning gold at the 2012 Paralympics is a massive target. It would be a huge achievement. When people see me running in a marathon or half marathon, it is important for me in terms of showing people the event.
In the New York marathon, which I’ve won four times, two hundred thousand people watch me on that course, and hopefully go away knowing more about not just me but the event itself and help them think more positively about themselves. They can see that having a positive attitude can enrich their lives too.
Q: How important is it that the Olympics and Paralympics are being treated equally by the organisers Locog?
RW: London won the bid in part because they saw Paralympics as on a par with the Olympics, it is parallel in that sense, they are a single entity. It’s important they are treated like that. It’s not an afterthought. They are promoting both. That makes it easier for people to view me as an athlete, not a disabled athlete.
It’s important that when the public come to the Games, they see as many events as possible, because they will be astounded at the quality and level of performance. That runs from the volleyball to the archery and on the track.
Q: How would you approach promoting the Paralympics to the public in general?
RW: Much of it is down to the individual athletes taking responsibility for the type of messages they want to send. It’s critical for athletes to go in to the workplace and share their story and allow that message to cascade. It’s a domino effect. What I’ve found is that you can do as much as you want. But if your captive audience is 20,000 people, then those 20,000 people tell four people, it inspires a huge number of others to get involved.
When you hear it from the athletes themselves, every person has their own accounts of how they got there, and of competition and stories of overcoming disability.
The power of sport is huge when it is applied to breaking down barriers and encouraging things like diversity. To get that message across you have to have story tellers at the heart of the process. I have a couple of people I mentor back in Nottingham, and I say to them that if you want the public to spread the message about diversity then you have to tell your story. That’s where it starts. You have to promote your sport - no one else will do it for you.
Q: Tanni Grey Thompson’s view is that coverage of Paralympics in the media skews more toward the challenges of overcoming disability and there is less focus on athletic excellence. Do you agree? Is that ideal?
RW: I do agree. The consequence is that people like the idea of the Paralympics but don’t know the details of the sports. They are not close enough to judge what is a good performance and who are the personalities. They need help in filling in the gaps. They need more background, past performances and times.
I train with Liz Yelling who is a marathon runner, running in her third Olympics. The sessions she plans for me are the same as those she plans for her able bodied runners. The sessions are elite athlete sessions. That’s what we want. We want to be known as athletes. Not paralympic athletes, or disabled athletes.
When we promote our sports we need to promote our times and performances and training regimes, just as able bodied athletes do.
We don’t promote that I’m a double leg amputee. That’s part of who I am and my story. But from a sport point of view I’m talking about the benefits of the sport, whether you are able bodied or partially sighted or in a wheelchair, or sixty or black. There’s lots of positives you can get from a sport like running because it is so easy to start. The barriers are so low. I’ve gained so much from sport and I want to give back.
Q: What can people learn from watching the events and the athletes like yourself?
RW: It can only be good. They will learn about a sport they might not know about before, but also they get to learn about the personalities and see up close how hard they train. It shows how hard you have to work to be the best. Hopefully they will be inspired to take it up themselves and spread that message. It’s important that when the public come to the Games that they see as many events as possible, because they will be astounded at the quality and level of performance. That runs from the volleyball to the archery and on the track.
Q: What events do you try to watch?
I like the wheelchair basketball guys, it’s a brilliant sport. The commitment they have on the court is phenomenal. I like the wheelchair tennis. I’m from a swimming and gymnastics background, so both of those too.
It depends on the schedule at the Games. You are so absorbed in preparing for your own sport that it is hard to do anything else. If my event is toward the end of the Paralympics, I’ll struggle to see any. Hopefully it will be at the beginning. I want to try to see some of the Olympics but we’ll be at the training camp in Portugal. I’m a big fan of the 100 and 200 metres. I haven’t seen many field events until recently.
One of my close friends is Oscar Pistorius. I’ve picked up so much from him. I’m always firing emails over to him asking for tips and he’s happy to respond, which shows the kind of person he is and the camaraderie that is there below the fierce compeition. It’s such a friendly place, the athletic world. For the general public to access as many of the athletes as possible will be very helpful in terms of legacy.