Track: Blind women's progress continues to defy belief

When Marla Runyan lined up on Wednesday she could see no further than the ground immediately in front of her and the blurred figures of the 13 rival runners surrounding her in the first-round heat of the women's 1500 metres.

She has been registered blind since the age of 11.

That the 31-year-old American had qualified to run here was a staggering feat. That she proceeded to reach the semi-final stage almost defied belief.

Not that Runyan was aware of that as she crossed the finish line. "I've screwed it up," she said.

"I missed the surge in the finishing straight." She had not, it transpired, missed the semi-final cut.

Having chastised herself for being off the pace before sprinting through to seventh place, the woman from Eugene discovered her time, 4min 10.83sec, had in fact been quick enough to take her into the next round as one of the fastest losers.

Still, Runyan was far from happy. "I ran a bad race," she said.

"I thought I was in the top six and I wasn't. Normally I can gauge how a race is developing by the number of people I can hear breathing ahead of me and behind me. Today, I couldn't."

It was hardly surprising, given the roar from the crowd as Runyan took her place in sporting history as the first athlete to cross the divide from Paralympian to Olympian.

At the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta she won the heptathlon gold medal. Four years earlier in Barcelona she won the 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump.

Since the age of nine, Runyan has suffered from Stargardt's Disease, a degenerative condition which affects the macular, or central, vision.

She has 20/300 vision in her left eye and 20/400 in her right eye.

"Both retinas at the back of my eyes are severely damaged," she said.

"The image my brain sees is not clear. It is almost like having a hole in the back of your eye. My peripheral vision is intact, though, and that enables me to get around very well.

"I can walk or run without assistance, obviously. And I can navigate through a crowded room, though I wouldn't be able to recognise people around me. I can run by myself, but sometimes I can't see my coach standing 10 feet away."

In middle-distance running Runyan's restricted vision has not yet caused her problems in competition and she bridles at descriptions of her as disabled or disadvantaged.

"I see myself as as an athlete who has something wrong with her eyes rather than as a blind athlete," she said.

How the world views Marla Runyan is changing fast. Today it will see the runner with blind ambition racing for a place in an Olympic final.

- INDEPENDENT