Tasmanian runner Deon Kenzie believes his lack of opportunities to compete at this year's Commonwealth Games will give him a longer focus on the 2024 Paralympics.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A consistent medallist at Paralympic Games and world championships, the 26-year-old was denied the chance to compete in Birmingham due to a lack of middle-distance events for his T38 cerebral palsy category.
However, fresh from his latest victory on home soil at the Launceston Running Festival, the Forth flyer saw it as an opportunity to look further ahead and across the English Channel to Paris.
"The Paralympics is a pretty big program so the capacity to do that at a Commonwealth Games can be hard so it's more of a condensed program," Kenzie explained.
"It is disappointing but, in saying that, I think it really gives me a good opportunity this year to reset for the next two years.
"We've got Paris coming up so it's a pretty short turnaround from the last Paralympic Games and a lot of focus this year is building a really good base and getting ready for the next two years ahead."
With this year's World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan, having also been postponed for a second time, Devonport-born, Canberra-based Kenzie has been denied a major championship since claiming a bronze medal in the T38 1500 metres at Tokyo's Olympic Stadium last year.
He had also won a silver at the previous Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as well as a full set of medals from four IPC world championships over the last decade.
Earlier this month Kenzie won the 5km race in Launceston in 16:03, leading home a trio of Gunners Runners, trained by former Athletics Tasmania president Mike Gunson.
"It's great to run with a few of my old squad members and I just managed to get the better of one of them for the win," he said after leading home Ulverstone's Max Green with Burnie's James Frankcombe third.
Kenzie said it was refreshing to compete on home soil as he plans another globe-trotting schedule along the winding road from Tokyo to Paris.
"I addressed a lot after Tokyo and know there's a lot of things I can work on over the next two years to have me in my best shape," he said.
"A few strength tests showed I'm lacking a bit on my left side which is actually meant to be my non-affected side but we've identified a few key issues there and are really working on those.
"I'm excited about the year ahead. I love the training aspects of running probably more so than the actual racing so I'm really excited to see where the next 12 months is going to take me."
Kenzie was one of three Tasmanians to compete at the Tokyo Paralympics, along with rower Alex Viney and shot putter Todd Hodgetts.