It’s 2024, and Roderick Townsend owns four medals from the Paralympic Games, five world titles and a world record.
In 2014, he didn’t even know about the Paralympics.
“I wasn't aware of the Paralympic movement,” Townsend remembers now. “And it wasn't until I was introduced to Paralympic sports that I really understood the value of embracing not just my differences, but how to effectively be the best me that I can possibly be.”
Townsend long has been an athletic wonder. Raised in the town of Stockton, California — roughly 80 miles inland from San Francisco — the chiseled, powerful Townsend starred as a defensive end on the varsity football squad at Lincoln High School. Serving as team captain in 2009, he earned first-team honors in the San Jose Athletic Association.
From there, he went onto a successful collegiate track and field career. First, Townsend enrolled at San Joaquin Delta College near his childhood home, where he set a school high-jump record and won the conference championship. Then, he thrived in the decathlon at Boise State University, his first crack at NCAA Division I athletics.
From a quick glance at Townsend in action, most fans — now and back in college — noticed what’s on the surface: Townsend is an athletic star. But there’s another layer to his physical nature.
I have a disability that most people aren't even aware of. I told people that I didn't even have a disability, because I didn't see it as such.
Townsend was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, which resulted in doctors needing to break his collarbone to safely extract him. This led to severely damaged nerve endings in his neck and Townsend’s right arm being much weaker than his left. He has never been able to fully extend that right arm.
Townsend was 21 years old — and still competing against able-bodied athletes while at Boise State — when life as he knew it transformed.
He was in Tempe, Arizona, where Townsend’s Boise State Broncos were competing at a meet hosted by Arizona State University. A high jumper named Jeff Skiba, a four-time Paralympic medalist whose left leg had been amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, was trouncing the competition.
“I remember jumping against Jeff,” Townsend recalls. “He was phenomenal, and he was a below-the-knee amputee. I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this guy is insanely talented to be able to jump so effectively, given his disability.’”
The next evening, Townsend received a call from his coach.
“He said, ‘Hey, I heard from Jeff Skiba’s coach, and they think that you might be able to qualify for the Paralympics.’
“Basically, Jeff had seen me jumping, and thought, ‘That dude moves kind of interesting.’”
Skiba was spot-on. Townsend may have been competing against able-bodied athletes, but his disability had hindered him. For example, he needed to throw the javelin and discus with his left hand instead of using the right arm that couldn’t fully function.
“It's great to be able to see the eye that the veterans have for particular disabilities and being able to see the way people move,” Townsend says.
So, Townsend dove in and has since become one of America’s great modern Paralympians. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won gold medals in both the high jump and long jump, competing in the T47 class, meant for athletes with movement affected in one arm.
At the Tokyo Games, he one-upped himself, setting a T47 high jump world record of 2.15m that still stands today, while collecting two more medals. In the meantime, Townsend has racked up five consecutive world high jump titles, a streak that dates back to 2015, his first year as an official Paralympic athlete.
Townsend credits Skiba for introducing him to the Paralympic movement in which he’s been so successful. And with his trophy shelf fully stocked, Townsend speaks like someone who knows he’s the best in the world — because he is.
“It's great to have a lot of pressure, having won every championship since 2015,” Townsend says. “I don't take that lightly, and my competitors don't take it lightly either. I have nothing but respect for them, but my goal is to beat them as badly as possible.
My goal is to be the bad guy. I want to be the reason nobody else gets to win a gold medal.
That’ll be the case in Paris, too. And the upcoming Paris Games are a landmark for Townsend as well, in that it’s his first Paralympics as a father. His seven-month-old son, Rodney, will be in the stands with his wife, Tynita Butts-Townsend. Butts-Townsend is also a star athlete — she competed at the Tokyo Olympics in the women’s high jump.
“We already have [Rodney’s] little baby passport and everything,” Townsend says. “And this is going to be the first Games that my wife will be able to see me compete in.”
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Six years ago, Townsend was still just two world titles into his dominant run of greatness.
He was coaching jumps at the University of Louisville and watching the New Balance Nationals when he spotted something funky from a high jumper named Dallas Wise.
“My coach pointed this guy out to me and said, ‘Hey, that guy moves very similar to you,’” Townsend remembers.
Townsend tracked down Wise’s number and called him the next day.
“I asked the kid, ‘By any chance, do you have a disability? Something seems wrong with your left arm.’ He said, ‘No, no, there’s nothing wrong.’ And I was like, ‘OK, well let me tell you about me real quick.’”
Five minutes later, Wise was in tears.
“The kid was crying, because he’d never met somebody with his same disability,” Townsend says. “It was amazing to be able to introduce him to Paralympic track and field.”
That was in 2018. Three years later, Townsend and Wise stood side-by-side on the podium at the Tokyo Paralympic Games with medals around their necks. Townsend had just won his second gold in the high jump, and Wise was the silver medalist.
Wise is now a star for the University of Southern California’s track and field team. He earned a high jump bronze medal at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships in July and is slated to compete in Paris against Townsend, his Paralympic guide.
“To be able to spread the Paralympic message for disabilities that may not be as apparent is great,” Townsend says. “Although this is something that I can't physically change, I've learned how to work around it and do things that are best for me given my circumstances, because I can't just do things the way everybody else does and expect to be successful.
“It's taught me how to be creative. It's taught me how to be appreciative. It's taught me how to be honest.”