Paralympics: Deon Kenzie wary of the high standard ahead of 1500m

At the last Paralympic Games in 2016, Kenzie clocked 4:14.95 to claim the silver medal just over a second behind Tunisian winner Abbes Saidi.

Five years on and Saidi's time of 4:13.81 is a massive 26 seconds outside the world record.

But Kenzie is up for the challenge.

The 25-year-old has been reaping the rewards of relocating from Forth to Canberra to train under experienced coach Philo Saunders.

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Earlier this year, he became the first Australian man with cerebral palsy to shatter the four-minute barrier when running 3:59.79, before later lowering the mark to 3:55.09.

"Three or four years ago 4:08 would probably win a gold at the Paralympic Games but when you look at the standard now, there's a Canadian (2019 world champion Nathan Riech) who has the world record (3:47.89) and one or two other guys around the same mark which really shows how the standard has increased," he said.

"To be in medal contention, you need to be running around the sub-four minute mark. Earlier this year I did 3:55.

"Everything has gone really well. I'm hitting the times I need to, executing my races really well and feeling confident heading to my second Paralympic Games."

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With the help of Saunders at the Canberra Athletics Club, Kenzie has been meticulously planning for Tokyo through carefully-planned heat and altitude training.

A three-week camp at Mount Perisher was complemented by a similar spell in the Australian Institute of Sport altitude house where oxygen levels simulate a height of 3000m.

"We slept and spent the day in there but still trained outside," he explained.

"The idea is to live high and train low.

"You do notice a bit of difference but you normally need a period of a few weeks afterwards when you really notice the results and my race will be about four to five weeks since we came out.

"I'm also fortunate I have that training squad which is a mixture of para and able-bodied so I get to train with and race against athletes whose ability is higher than mine and that's been really good for me.

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"The unique thing about the Paralympics is you never know who is around the corner.

"It is always evolving and having that preparation really helps."

Kenzie, who has a full set of medals from IPC world championships, including gold in 2017, was also acclimatising in Townsville when the Queensland borders were shut enabling him to meet up with his Paralympic teammates in Cairns.

He is due to compete in a straight final at 8.15pm on Saturday (September 4).