Bringing Home Gold

Wildcat takes first place, sets world record in Rio

Allison Barlow Hess | Marketing & Communications

David Blair - Bringing Home Gold

David Blair BS ’99 knew he had won gold at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio before he picked up the discus for his third and final throw. Going into the championship round, he had secured the top spot, which put him throwing last. 

“There was one person before me who could beat me. He threw the discus, and it wasn’t far enough,” David said. “When I saw his measurement, I thought ‘I’ve won.’ That’s when the goosebumps started up my back and my neck and my arms. And the crowd started yelling and cheering and clapping. I did my final throw, and right after that, they threw me an American flag, and I got to run around the track and say thank you to the fans in the stands. It is definitely one of those moments I will never forget — ever.”

And rightly so. Blair is the only Utah resident to bring home a gold medal from Rio. But David also remembers winning all the foot races on field day in elementary school and even the trike race in first grade. He was born competitive, just as he was born with a small left leg and misshapen foot, commonly known as clubfoot.

Between his birth and 10th grade, David underwent eight surgeries at Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake City. Doctors fused his foot at a 90-degree angle. While the foot has no movement, the surgery allowed him to run, much like a prosthetic would.

David started to run as soon as he could walk. He remembers waiting impatiently to turn 5 so he could play T-ball. He was a pitcher and first baseman all through middle school. He also played high school football and wrestled. In eighth grade, he told his baseball coach he wanted to attend college but would need a scholarship. His coach said, “Drop baseball and go out for track because in track, individual effort stands out, and you’ll have a better chance at a scholarship.”

David listened and turned his attention to the discus, hammer throw and shot put. He still holds Davis High School records, set in 1993, for all three events. As a senior, he won the state championship for discus.

“People without a ‘quote-unquote disability’ view disabilities differently than people with disabilities. No question. Always. I’m convinced everybody has some form of disability. It’s just some of them are more physically obvious. We all deal with them, and we all plow through,” David said.

David succeeded by outworking his competition. His dream of a college scholarship followed. He received offers from both BYU and Weber State. He didn’t hesitate to become a Wildcat. It was a bonus that his girlfriend, now wife Cinthia Johnstun Blair BA ’98, accepted an academic scholarship to WSU as well, studying business administration.

“I would travel with him to track meets when I could,” Cinthia said. “I liked watching him succeed. It was also stressful for me — it still is — to watch him throw because I’m so vested in him. I almost have to close my eyes. Our whole family loves watching him perform. We were all thrilled the day he won the gold medal. We were running around the house. Even our dog was running around with us.”

When David won gold and set the world record in Rio, he had plenty of fans back home, none more excited nor less surprised than WSU track and field coach Dan Walker BS ’75. Walker was the assistant coach during David’s years at Weber State, and together they had perfected ways to compensate for David’s asymmetrical form.

“He has the birth defect, but he also has some genetic gifts,” Walker explained. “He is very fast. He can move his arms and legs quickly. That’s something a lot of big people can’t do. A thrower is kind of like a sprinter; they have to move things quickly, and he could. That was fun to see.”

During meets, Walker told David to use his difference to psych out competitors.

“I had him warm up without sweatpants. Because he was throwing so far with his small leg, the other guys would lose all their confidence,” Walker said.

By the time David graduated, he had set six Weber State records in hammer, discus and indoor weight. One of those records, his hammer distance of 200 feet and 8 inches, still stands 18 years later.     

“It’s neat because there are athletes at Weber this year who still use that as their motivation, to break my hammer record. And they’re working their tails off to get it,” David said. “To be honest, if they do, they’ve earned it. It’s a compliment to me that something I did in 1999 can still motivate and drive athletes now.”

After college, David, who majored in technical sales, put down the discus and concentrated on his career in database management and his family — Cinthia and their four daughters. Then in February 2015, he realized he was eligible to compete in the Paralympics and began a rigorous four-hour-a-day training regimen. In May 2016, he smashed a world record in the F44 discus — for athletes with functional ability in one leg similar to an amputation. That set him up to compete in Rio. His throw of 64.11 meters, or 210 feet and 4 inches, broke his own world record and made him the Paralympic champion.

David said he will now be able to sleep the night before competition because any other victory will be icing on the cake. A born competitor, he wants to make sure that icing is thick, however. He has his sights set on the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships in London.

“The goal this season is to break that world record again and to break it handily,” David said, “so, hopefully it stands for a very long time.”