Tim Prendergast is aiming for another Paralympic medal. Photo / Nicola Topping
New Zealand's visually impaired middle-distance runner Tim Prendergast believes a training stint alongside Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis has provided the perfect tonic ahead of the London Paralympic Games.
Prendergast, who won gold in the T13 classification at the 2004 Athens Games, spent three-weeks alongside Willis in Michigan back
in May. The training break was arranged by Willis' older brother Stephen, who coaches the London-based Prendergast.
"I am four or five years older than Nick and we both grew up in the Wellington area together," says Prendergast. 'When we were younger I was one of the scalps that he wanted and back then he didn't even know about my visual impairment.
"Nick is a 3:31 1500m runner [20 seconds faster than Prendergast's lifetime best] so we didn't do the same training sessions, although we did warm up and stretch together. Yet I've learned a lot just being around him; the way he prepares, the way he talks and also learning more about his Beijing experience."
Prendergast, 33, started to lose his sight aged eight and now has only five per cent vision - and is set to compete at his fourth Paralympic Games. He snared two silver medals at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics before banking 800m gold at the Athens Games four years later.
