Guiding to glory – Athletics Weekly

Attached by a 10cm cord, how do visually impaired runners and their guides stay in sync and reach the finish line? Sidelines lift the lid on guide running

In the Paralympic and sporting world, few partnerships are as vital as that between a blind athlete and their guide runner. Often overlooked, guides are the glue that makes it all happen.

Trust is vital, and for Great Britain and Wales’s leading T11 sprinter, James Ledger, and his guide Greg Kelly, this is no different.

“We are both the athlete in my eyes. Without Greg, I can’t do what I do,” says Ledger.

In their first year as a team, Ledger and Kelly broke the T11 British record for 100 metres, crossing the line in 11.55 seconds.

“We knew it was quick. We could just feel it. When you’re waiting for the clock to come down to see what the time was, seeing ‘British record’ is just an unbelievable feeling,” Kelly says.

“I’m running as fast as I possibly can in the dark,” Ledger says. “I’ve got to trust Greg with everything, and that belief in him lets me fly to my full potential. That is how we beat that record.”

Despite Kelly having never guided a run in his life, their friendship formed quickly, and that translated to results on the track.

“When Greg and I first met, we became bloody good friends,” Ledger says. “That makes everything easier. We understand each other a lot more.”

But what goes into finding a guide fast enough to sprint next to a world-class blind sprinter, but selfless enough to cross the line second?

It was an Instagram ad, put out by Ledger and his coach Matt Elias, which attracted the attention of sprinter Kelly, 25, from Scotland.

“I don’t think guide running would have been on my radar,” Kelly says. “But after seeing the ad and having one conversation with James, I saw what his ambitions were to go to the Paralympics and compete abroad, I was desperate to get going.”

Growing up, Kelly was always a sports lover and was focused on football, but when individual medals and national titles for Scotland in athletics (200m and 400m) started flowing in, he pursued athletics wholeheartedly.

Following a move to Loughborough to study at the university, he progressed his individual athletics career in 200m and 400m races, pushing for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

While that didn’t pan out, timing led him straight into Ledger’s path.

“When I applied to be James’ guide…