Russell Short

Russell Short

2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Short
Personal information
Full name	Russell Luke Short
Nationality	Australian
Born	7 May 1969 Poowong, Victoria
Height	185 cm (73 in)
Medal record Athletics Paralympic Games 1988 Seoul Men's Discus B3 1988 Seoul Men's Javelin B3 1992 Barcelona Men's Discus B3 1992 Barcelona Men's Shot Put B3 2000 Sydney Men's Shot Put F12 2000 Sydney Men's Discus Throw F12 1996 Atlanta Men's Discus F12 1996 Atlanta Men's Shot Put F12 1988 Seoul Men's Shot Put B3 1992 Barcelona Men's Javelin B3 2004 Athens Men's Shot Put F13 2012 London Men's Shot Put F11/12 World Championships and Games for the Disabled 1990 Assen Men's Shot Put B3 1990 Assen Men's Discus B3

Russell Luke Short, OAM (born 7 May 1969) is an Australian legally blind athlete, who has competed at eight Paralympics from 1988 to 2016 and won six gold, two silver and four bronze medals at the Games. He competes in discus, javelin, and shot put.

Russell Luke Short was born on 7 May 1969 in the Victorian town of Poowong. He has 2% peripheral vision due to macular degeneration, which first began to affect him at the age of four and a half; his brother also has the disease. He attended Korumburra Secondary College. He played many sports in high school, including swimming, diving, and basketball, but he could no longer participate in these sports as his sight gradually became more impaired. He took up discus and shot put because he found he enjoyed throwing things.

In 1993, he kayaked across the Torres Strait from Cape York to New Guinea as part of a team of four men, and also walked the Kokoda Track with them. These experiences were recounted in the 1995 documentary The Blind Leading The Blind and the 2004 book Blind leading the blind : a journey of vision across the Torres Strait and Kokoda track.

He lives in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Huntly with his wife, Christine, who is also legally blind, and two sons, Jim and Will.He works as a massage therapist.

Short began his competitive career in 1982. His first Paralympic Games were the 1988 Seoul Paralympics, where he won two gold medals in the Men's Discus B3 and Men's Javelin B3 events, and a bronze medal in the Men's Shot Put B3 event.

In 1988, he became the first disabled person to receive a scholarship from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). In 1990, while being coached by AIS Throws Coach Merv Kemp, he broke the discus B2 world record twice. He competed in the 1990 World Championships and Games for the Disabled, Assen, Netherlands winning gold medals in the Men's Shot Put and Discus B3 events.