James Turner suffered a major setback in the lead-up to Paris 2024, falling ill with glandular fever just months before the event. It threatened to derail the campaign he had put his heart and soul into since Tokyo 2020, where he had won his second consecutive 400m T36 gold medal, but had botched the start of the 100m race consigning him to a frustrating silver.
James took full responsibility for his costly mistake in Tokyo and vowed to make amends in Paris. The illness took a big toll on his strength but, under the guidance of coach Iryna Dvoskina, a re-designed training regimen primed James to be at his best right when it mattered most.
It came together spectacularly at Paris 2024. In the 100m, he stormed home to win gold in Paralympic record time and claimed another 400m title, breaking the world record he’d set at the World Championships in Dubai nearly five years earlier, one of a swathe of world championship gold medals to his name. His brilliant Paris campaign culminated in being named Paralympics Australia’s 2024 Male Paralympian of the Year.
James’s adaptability was evident early on. The first of his four Paralympic gold medals was won in the 800m T36 at Rio 2016, after which he was named Paralympics Australia’s 2016 Rookie of the Year. However, the 800 was discontinued for Tokyo 2020, so James focused instead on the 400 and 100, becoming the world’s best in both.
Before athletics, James was an Australian representative in football 7-a-side. The gold medal in Rio was his first major win and was followed by a clean sweep of the 200, 400 and 800m T36 at the 2017 World Championships in London. At the 2019 and 2023 editions he won the 100 and 400 doubles but, amid his glandular fever challenge, he took silver at the Kobe 2024 event in the 400m. Evidently, it was all part of the plan.
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