Ottawa’s Jason Dunkerley set his second personal-best in a week on Friday night in London, and at age 35 – for the first time in his career that spans four Paralympics – won a second medal at the same Games.
On the heels of Monday’s bronze medal performance in the 1,500 m – the event he’d won his previous medals in – Dunkerley and guide runner Josh Karanja ran a consistent race from start to finish in the T11 men’s 5,000 m for athletes with visual impairments, leading for much of the race and setting a pace they knew few in the world could match.
The Ottawa Lions pair wound up in second place in a time of 15:34.07 – a new personal record by nearly four seconds that was 12 seconds behind Chileans Cristian Valenzuela and guide Cristopher Guajardo, and ahead of the rest of the field by over 20 seconds.
“It’s tough. We were leading for a long way, so it kind of feels like it’s been taken away from you, but we had a plan and we executed it,” Dunkerley said. “I’m really happy. We ran hard, PBed.”
The 5,000 m is a new pursuit for Dunkerley. The thought of winning a silver medal in the discipline would never have occurred to him coming out of the last Paralympics in 2008, or even the last world championships before he joined up with Karanja and coach Ian Clark.
“Even a year ago, I wouldn’t have imagined this,” Dunkerley highlighted, explaining that he was nonetheless well setup to tackle the 5k. “As you get older, the speed work gets harder and you may lose a step. But the endurance is there from all your years of training.”
Going out with two medals could have been the perfect way to cap a career for the Northern Ireland-born athlete who enjoyed competing in front of family close to his birthplace, but talk of retirement was nowhere on his mind.
“I’m thinking 2013 for now. We’re going to gear up for worlds next year and see how that goes and then re-evaluate,” Dunkerley said, stopping short of committing to the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. “We’re making big progress, especially in the 5k, and I think there’s a lot more to come.”
There was another first in Dunkerley’s career at these Games – a medal-ceremony tear. Dunkerley has now won five Paralympic medals in total – two silver and three bronze – but he didn’t feel the waterworks until he heard his coach yell, “How does it feel, Dunk?” from the stands.
“I lost it,” Dunkerley smiled. “I had tears running down my face. I think it just all hit me at once. It’s such an emotional experience, being here and being in front of a big crowd. To have my family here and all their support, I just feel really lucky. I couldn’t ask for more.”