Roderick Townsend

Started: He took up Para athletics in 2014. (teamusa.org, 28 Oct 2015) Reason: He got involved in Para athletics on the suggestion of US Para athlete Jeff Skiba after the pair competed at a meet at Arizona State University. "Basically, Jeff had seen me jumping, and thought, 'That dude moves kind of interesting'. I knew I had a disability, but I didn't think anything of it. I had heard of the Paralympics before, but I thought the only people who did Paralympics were people with blades." (nbcolympics.com, 28 Jun 2024; teamusa.org, 18 Oct 2015) Ambition: To compete at the Paralympic Games in 2024 and 2028. (paralympic.org, 12 Jul 2023) Awards: In June 2015 he was named Male Athlete of the Month by the US Olympic Committee [USOC]. (teamusa.org, 08 Jul 2015) Additional Info: FINDING THE NEXT GENERATION In 2018 he spotted a high jumper named Dallas Wise at a national high school competition in the United States of America. Wise was competing against non-Para athletes at the time, and Townsend suggested that he look into Para athletics. Three years later, Wise won silver in the T47 high jump at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo while Townsend claimed gold in the same event. "My coach pointed this guy [Wise] out to me and said, 'Hey, that guy moves very similar to you'. I asked the kid, 'By any chance, do you have a disability? Something seems wrong with your left arm'. The kid was crying, because he'd never met somebody with his same disability. It was amazing to be able to introduce him to Paralympic track and field." (nbcolympics.com, 28 Jun 2024) RETIREMENT THOUGHTS He considered retiring in 2018. He felt burnt out after balancing work and his studies in the United States of America with competing in Para athletics. Instead, he decided to relocate from Arizona to Kentucky to work more closely with coach Jeff Petersmeyer. "In 2018 I almost retired from track. I had already won two gold medals in Rio, set the world record multiple times, won world championships and I felt burnt out. After months of getting ready to throw in the towel, I finally took a second to ask, 'What would my future self think?' Up to this point, I was either a student-athlete or balancing working 50 hours a week as a coach along with a master's programme. I did not want to risk wondering what if anymore. Jeff Petersmeyer had coached me remotely for five years so I figured I'd go all in and make the move to be trained in person. I threw caution to the wind, and left my job at Northern Arizona University to relocate to Louisville, Kentucky, where I had no job, no place to live and no clue where the best pizza places were. I'm so happy I bet on myself and won. It would have been outside of my character to have given up because I felt uncomfortable." (teamusa.org, 30 Jun 2020) OCCUPATION He has worked part-time as a substitute teacher, primarily in language, arts and maths, and has worked part-time as a pushback operator for American Airlines at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport in Kentucky, United States of America. He has also worked as a volunteer coach at the University of Louisville, and served as a coach for his wife Tynita Butts-Townsend. In 2018 he began coaching fellow US Para athlete Ezra Frech. (teamusa.org, 17 Jul 2023, 07 Nov 2019; recordnet.com, 04 Apr 2019) FURTHER EDUCATION From 2015 to 2017 he completed a master's degree in educational leadership at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, AZ, United States of America. During the programme he also worked as a jumping coach at the university. (LinkedIn profile, 07 Apr 2017)

Sporting Relatives: His wife Tynita Butts-Townsend has represented the United States of America in non-Para athletics. She competed in the high jump at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (SportsDeskOnline, 30 Apr 2024; ky.milesplit.com, 25 Feb 2021; teamusa.org, 07 Nov 2019)