Paralympic gold medallist Heath Francis reflects on Sydney 2000

22 October 2020

Paralympic gold medallist Heath Francis reflects on Sydney 2000

In this interview Newcastle teenager Heath Francis reflects on his Paralympic debut at the Sydney 2000 Games where he won four medals. He explains just how special that winning moment was in the 400m, considering he was unable to run for two months in the leadup. During an incredible career, Francis would represent Australia at three Games, three world championships and two Commonwealth Games, claiming an incredible 19 medals during his 12-year international career.

ANSW: How are your reflections on Sydney 2000? You were still a teenager and it was very early in your career?

HEATH: The Sydney Paralympics changed my life. I was 19 when I competed in Sydney and whilst I had competed at a World Championships as a 16-year-old, I wasn't prepared for the scrutiny and favouritism an athlete competing at a home Paralympics gets. However I was incredibly fortunate to have an amazing support network around me with a great coach for the Sydney Paralympics in Louise Green, a brilliant physio in Chris Downs, a superb sports Doctor in Dr Louise Tulloh and my amazing mum. They were the four key people responsible for getting me prepared for the games both mentally and physically.

ANSW: What was the lead up? Added pressure as a NSW athlete?

HEATH: The year leading up to the Paralympics was incredibly busy and life changing in a number of ways. The "12 months To Go" date was marked with me sitting my HSC exams and off the back of my results I was accepted into University. To manage my training and focus on the Paralympics I only studied part time in the first semester and took the 2nd semester off completely. I also moved from my family's rural farm to Newcastle in order to be closer to Uni and to do all my training on a synthetic track (rather than the grass track I trained on at my local club Raymond Terrace). At the national championships in April 2000 I ran within 13 hundredths of a second of the 400m World Record and this was the second fastest 400m time ever by a T46 (arm amputee) athlete and the fastest time since 1992. This time very much had me as favourite for the event as the Games were just six months away and I was improving almost every time I competed on the track. The pressure on me after I ran this time went up incredibly. All of a sudden I was one of the rising stars who was expected to win at the Paralympics. Whilst this was so different from anything I'd experienced before, I actually didn't mind the attention as it gave me a chance to promote the Paralympics and hopefully change people's perception of disability.

With six months to go I was flying high, I was training well and I was improving every session I did on the track and then in July a mysterious injury started afflicting my left foot. I was experiencing nerve pain near the toes of my left foot, but it went misdiagnosed for weeks and steadily it got worse to the point I couldn't complete training sessions. It wasn't until I went to a new physio (Chris Downs at Sport and Spine in Newcastle) that it was diagnosed as a probable stress fracture. This diagnosis was confirmed and I spent the 60 days leading up to the Paralympics not stepping onto the track! I did all my final preparations for the Sydney Paralympics in the swimming pool and did hours upon hours of pool running to keep my fitness, strength and lactic tolerance. I also spent hours each day visualizing my 400m race and could run the race in my head to within a couple of tenths of a second of my target time by the time the Opening Ceremony came around. Whilst the injury caused a new set of problems, it also removed a lot of pressure from me as I no longer was thinking about winning, I just wanted to be able to step out onto the track and compete as best I could.

ANSW: What was it like to win gold in front of a home crowd?

HEATH: There truly is no experience like competing in the pinnacle of your sport in a home country. To do this as a 19-year-old is something I didn't comprehend at the time, but I'm so grateful for it now! I was incredibly fortunate as an athlete to compete in Melbourne six years later at the Commonwealth Games, which was also an incredible experience, however it really doesn't compare to a Paralympic Games for a Para-Athlete. Whilst the entire Games was amazing, the night of my 400m final is the one that sticks in my memory the most as it was an incredible night of athletics. It was the night Louise Sauvage was competing in the final of the T54 Wheelchair 800m event, an event she had won a few weeks earlier at the Olympics as a demonstration event. It was an event everyone pencilled in as another gold for Australia and it was probably the biggest night of competition of the entire Games.

I was in the race immediately after Louise's final and I could hear the immense cheer from the stadium during the race as I was being led from the call room to the track. I also heard the collective groan from the crowd when Louise was beaten by the incredible Canadian athlete Chantal Petticlerc (who would go on to be one of the great Para-Athletes of the next decade). So when I was eventually shown onto the track by the officials for my final, the Australian crowd was still in shock from what they'd just witnessed.

As we were called to the blocks I remember telling myself that I'd done everything I could to prepare for that final and just to execute it as best I could. My actual race is now a bit of a blur in my memory, however I do recall executing each segment of the 400m race perfectly... just like I had in the thousands of races I had visualized in the lead up whilst nursing my stress fracture. I was also pleasantly surprised (and shocked) that my legs held up in the drive to line and it was just enough to eek out a victory over the guy who would become my nemesis over the next two Paralympic Games - Antonio Souza from Brazil.

Because of the stress fracture leading up to the Games I was not expecting to cross the finish line in front and there is a great photo of me with my hand on my forehead and an expression of disbelief on my face as I could not believe I'd just become a Paralympic champion.

I would go on to run much better (and faster) 400m races over the course of my career. But that 400m final is so incredibly special as it was my first Paralympic title and the circumstances leading up to it made it such a memorable event.

My lap of honour was also amazing as so many people from my local community were there to celebrate with me, people who had been with me since I was a kid and who had helped me after my accident at age seven when I lost my hand in a farming accident.

To this day it is one of the most special moments of my life.

ANSW: Australia did a great job hosting the Games.

HEATH: I'm often asked what I think about the Sydney Paralympics and my response is always that I think it was the most important games for the Paralympic movement since the first Paralympic Games in 1960. The Games were brilliantly run, with huge crowds in the Paralympic precinct throughout the Games. The organisers had the incredible foresight to invite school children from across Australia to attend. As a result a whole generation of Australians stopped seeing disability as "what people couldn't do" to a massive mindshift change to seeing "what people with disability could do".

ANSW: reflections 20-years on?

HEATH: I firmly believe that social changes in Australia like the NDIS being enacted were possible as a result of Australia hosting the Paralympics in Sydney in 2000.It definitely wasn't the only factor, but I think it played a big part! It is a shame that the fantastic Netflix documentary Rising Phoenix totally omitted the Sydney Paralympics from its storyline about the growth of the Paralympic movement as I don't think either Beijing or London would have been the success that they were if they had not have had Sydney to have built from.

David Tarbotton for Athletics NSW

Images: Heath Francis at Sydney 2000