In what has been called a “tokenistic” solution to an exclusion problem, Australian Athletics (AA) has reaffirmed short stature athletes will not be able to run competitively in their National Cross Country Championships.
The issue first came to light last year when 15-year-old Hugo Russell was told, despite winning two times previously, he is banned from running in the cross country due to his achondroplasia; a form of dwarfism.
After plenty of noise circulated from his ‘Let Hugo Run’ campaign AA has come back a year later and stated T40 and T41 athletes can participate in the championships, however, their results will not be officially counted.
“I’m a bit pissed off,” Hugo hesitantly uttered to Manly Observer, seemingly shy but visibly frustrated.
“That they think that I’m not as equal as other people. The fact that they’re just not letting me compete is really unfair.”
“That they think that I’m not as equal as other people. The fact that they’re just not letting me compete is really unfair.”
“It’s effectively like running as a spectator along the sidelines while the others are competing,” Hugo’s mother, Alicia, added.
“The solution that they’ve come up with is tokenistic, patronising and actually quite discriminatory.”
To add salt to the wound, the Narraweena local won the School Sport Australia (SPA) State Championships last month, 22 July. Although he was placed on the middle of the podium with a medal hanging proudly around his neck, officially, it was nothing more than a photo-op as Hugo’s result will not be recorded.
SSA hosts a different Cross Country from AAs National Championship. The latter national sports organisation took over the championships while still allowing the former to run their own.
But, as stated to us last year, SSAs rules are adopted under the same uniform as AA. Meaning Hugo will be invited to run in nationals, non-competitively.
Hugo isn’t the only short stature student who has felt the repercussions of the AA decision. Mia, a rising star in athletics, residing in Ipswich Queensland, feels blindsided by the decision.
Although he was placed on the middle of the podium with a medal hanging proudly around his neck, officially, it was nothing more than a photo-op as Hugo’s result will not be recorded.
“It’s not fair and disappointing. They are suppose to include everyone but it’s like they are pushing us out and making it difficult for us to compete in a meaningful and fair competition,” Mia told Manly Observer.
Not only did did the 15-year-old bring home the gold for the last National Cross Country when she was eligible to compete in 2023, she has also placed first in the multi class National Aquathlon race and relay this year in Perth.
Her dream is to eventually compete in the 1500m event at the World Dwarf Games, as well as to compete in any of the 100m, 200m, 800m and 1500m races at the Paralympics – the latter events are currently not eligible for short stature athletes.
Australian Athletics CEO Simon Hollingsworth emailed Alicia stating “the vast majority of participants do not come away with medals,” as justification for their decision, further stating “it is about taking part, doing your best time and being part of the running community.” Hugo’s mother believes families do not commit the time and resources to train for and attend the events without the expectation of a fair competition.
“Because of AA’s (and now SSA’s) mealy-mouthed offer to “invite” Hugo, many people, including us initially, assumed it was a win. It’s not. It’s a hollow, compromised and discriminatory gesture,” Alicia said.
Mia’s mother Dianne seconded this sentiment, stating simply participating is not worth the time and money the family puts into training a champion.
“It’s a cop out, they’ve basically said we’ll offer you guys participation just to quite you down,” Deanne said.
“There’s no way of improving if you’re not competing against anyone… we’re not going down to Ballarat to run [AA Cross Country], if there’s no competition. You can race against your own time, but it’s not the same thing as the medal.”
Deanne and Mia say they have attempted to contact AA for explanations regarding their decision, but just like many others, they have essentially received radio silence.
What’s The Big Idea?
If you’re reading this and wondering, if these athletes are allowed to show up, run, and have the capability to win, then why shouldn’t their results count? Well, you wouldn’t be alone.
Heads were scratched last year when it was announced Australian Athletics will not allow T40 and T41 classifications to run in distances 3 km and over. Since then, there have been a few unofficial reasons circulating as to why AA decided pull the rug out from under short stature athletes.
The first speculation was based around medical concerns for their running division. Alicia said the organisation alluded to “potential health risks” when explaining the reasoning for their decision. AA stated they were following the “technical guidelines” by global peak bodies of sport.
These concerns were soon debunked with a leading expert in achondroplasia, Dr Professor Ravi Savarirayan, affirming short stature people are more than capable of running as long as there is a medical certificate verifying so – an action already fulfilled by Hugo.
AA also said they would be reaching out to organisations such as Paralympics Australia for advice before coming to a final decision. Paralympics told Manly Observer they were not made aware of the issue.
“I’m not aware of specific discussions between PA’s [Paralympics Australia] classification staff and Australian Athletics relating to Hugo, but fundamentally PA is committed to ensuring Para-athletes are provided with the resources and the access to enable them to pursue Para-sport to the level of the choice in accordance with the International and National Federation rules – including classification – which govern each sport,” Paralympics Australia Communications General Manager, Tim Mannion said.
At the Paralympics T40 athletes can compete in selected running/track events, while T41 athletes are restricted to field events only. A limitation currently being contested by families such as Hugo’s and Mia’s.
Another excuse was the lack of baseline data, which refers to the average performance of athletes in a specific classification (e.g. T40, T41), collected from previous competitions.
It is used to compare performances across different divisions and help determine fair outcomes in events involving multiclass competitions. AA says there’s insufficient data to calculate this for the T40 and T41 division, despite years of their data recorded from previous SSA Cross Countries being available. AA also have their own baseline data for 1500m Cross Country events for para athletes already established.
The organisation shared they will need three more years to record the data before revisiting the decision. This data could prove to be few and far between as runners stop participating – Hugo has already refused to enter in the AA Cross Country Championships.
Australian Athletics further said “there is insufficient depth of competition in that [T40 and T41] para class that warrants its inclusion at a national championship level,” as stated in more correspondence with Alicia.
The classifications currently allowed to run in their National Cross Country event are T01, T11 – T13, T20, T35-T38, T44-T46. (Follow the hyperlink to see what these classifications are.)
In the 2024 championship, zero T44-46 (Limb Loss, Muscle Weakness or Impaired Range of Motion) and only four T11-13 (Vision Impairment) athletes competed in the event.
While every year AA hosted the Cross Country Championships there were T40 and 41 participants present; two in 2023, three in 2022 and four in 2019.
Considering the above, stating there is insufficient depth of competition for short stature athletes to compete, when others divisions match their numbers, seems contradictory.
With all this information present, it looks as though an offical clarification for their decision should be more than warranted… right? We thought so too, so we reached out, to no avail.
We gave Australian Athletics two weeks to respond to our queriers, until they evidently shared they would not be able to provide us with a response.
How To Keep Fighting For Short Stature Athletes
Hugo has said he will be running in the School Sports Australia National Championships for the pure love of the sport, even if it is just for participation.
However, after much deliberation and advice from disability advocates, the long distance champion has decided not to run in Australian Athletics Cross Country Championships. Instead, Hugo and Alicia have doubled down on their Let Hugo Run campaign.
These are their demands:
- Athletes with short stature (classification T40 & T41) should be allowed to compete in multiclass events at the National Cross Country Championships.
- Athletes with short stature should be allowed to compete in the 800m and 1500m multiclass events at the Australian Athletics Championships.
- Athletes with short stature should be allowed to compete in 100m, 200m, 800m and/or 1500m events at the Paralympics.
If you’d like to see Hugo and other short stature athletes around the country like Mia keep running, sign the petition.
You can also share your concerns with to the following organisations:
Australian Athletics: hello@athletics.org.au
School Sport Australia: info@schoolsportaustralia.edu.au
