Aussie Paralympian Curtis McGrath has scored gold in Rio in the KL2 para-canoe event, just four years after losing both of his legs in to a landmine in Afghanistan.
He dominated the event, pulling ahead of silver medallist Markus Swoboda of Austria for a solid, boat-length victory. “I’m still a bit shaky, but those nerves are starting to wear off now,” McGrath told the Herald-Sun.
It’s nice to get the job done. It is a bit of relief. It’s not easy to just wake up every day and go out and paddle. It’s not as easy as that.You get up at 4.30am, you’re on the water in the winter, it’s cold, it’s dark and you’re busting your gut out. I spent a bit of time with the Olympians and really took in as much as I could.
McGrath lost both legs while searching for improvised explosive devices in a remote district of the Uruzgan province in Afghanistan in 2012. A device that had been missed by the team detonated when McGrath stood on it. While waiting for a rescue chopper, he told his team that they’d be seeing him in the Paralympics. How ’bout it.
Australia is currently sitting fifth on the Paralympics medal table, with 12 gold medals, 22 silver and 21 bronze.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Getty Images.
