Katie Kelly was born with Usher syndrome, a degenerative disease – causing deafness and blindness – which left her legally blind years ago.
But 10 days ago she won gold in Japan at the Yokohama World Paratriathlon Event, with an Olympic medallist as her guide and whom she’d met just days before.
Katie Kelly and Michellie Jones – who is based in California – raced with a only tether holding them together while they swam 750 metres and ran 5 kilometres and rode 20km on a tandem bike.
“It’s an amazing and totally new experience for me to be a guide and it offered many challenges outside of swimming, biking and running. Communication, leadership and team work are huge components to consider as part of the race,” said Jones.
“Despite our inexperience together, we managed to win gold and gain valuable points.
“I am excited for the journey ahead and looking forward to helping Katie reach her goals.”
Kelly and Jones were the first to cross the line in the PT5 category of the race for vision impaired athletes.
And now the next stop for Kelly is Rio.
The Canberra-based athlete who holds a world ranking just out of the top 10 now hopes to qualify for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.
Kelly is training under Australian Paratriathlon team coach, Corey Bacon, and is currently raising funds to travel to qualifying races.
“Katie put in a great effort in Japan and considering this was only her third international race, everything is pointing in the right direction for her to qualify for the 2016 Rio Paralympics,” said Bacon.
To help Katie Kelly get to Rio you can donate here.
