2016 Rio Paralympics: Australian Curtis McGrath wins gold in para-canoe event

WOUNDED soldier Curtis McGrath has gone from the Afghanistan battlefield to Paralympic Games glory, winning gold in his KL2 para-canoe event.

CURTIS McGrath is hunched forward in his kayak, his back curled and head down.

There is no fist-pumping, no slapping the water, no screams of celebration. Just relief. Relief, and the burning agony ripping through his arms from the 42.19 seconds of gold-medal glory that has just put him here.

“Adrenaline, exhaustion,” McGrath says.

“The feeling of crossing the line and not having to take another stroke is quite relieving.”

McGrath capped his extraordinary journey from wounded soldier on the Afghanistan battlefield to Paralympic Games triumph, winning gold in his KL2 para-canoe event.

Curtis McGrath, returned serviceman, lost both his legs while serving in the Middle East.

The 28-year-old, who lost both legs in a landmine explosion while serving as a combat engineer four years ago, backed up his 200m sprint world championship earlier this year with a boat-length win over Austrian Markus Swoboda in the gold medal race at Rio’s Lagoa Stadium.

“I’m still a bit shaky, but those nerves are starting to wear off now,” McGrath said.

“It’s nice to get the job done.

“(The feeling) 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.

“For all that work to pay off, and the extra preparation camp that I was in, to actually cross the line in first place, it’s really nice to have that relief and satisfaction of gold.”

(L-R) Markus Swoboda of Austria, Curtis McGrath of Australia and Nick Beighton of Great Britain pose on the medals podium after the men's KL2 final at Lagoa Stadium.

Racing in lane five, McGrath was the clear pre-event favourite, having qualified fastest through the heats.

Next to him was former five-time world champion Swoboda, whose lightning starts had caused concern for the Kiwi-born Gold Coast boy.

The two quickest to men were level at the 100m mark before McGrath unleashed his greatest strength — his back-end power — to burst clear in the run to the line.

His time of 42.19s was just short of the 42.04s he paddled to claim this year’s world title, but good enough to finish 1.5s quicker than his nearest rival. Canoe-sprint’s Games debut in Rio means McGrath will hold the KL2 Paralympic record into Tokyo 2020.

“We’re going to have a party, a few celebratory drinks and just catch up with friends and family — some of them I haven’t seen in two months,” McGrath said.

“It’s a long time coming and hopefully it’s just a good old gathering and there’ll be more when I get home.”

Curtis McGrath, lost both his legs while serving in Afghanistan.

McGrath and Swoboda were level at the 100m mark but the Aussie powered through the second half of the course.

McGrath’s road to Rio is legendary, and arguably the best-known in this 177-strong team of 2016 Australian Paralympians.

After stepping on a hidden bomb in the remote Uruzgan Province in 2012 he famously told medics while he was being rushed to hospital that they would see him at the Paralympics.

McGrath didn’t stop at Paralympian. Yesterday, he became a Paralympic champion.

That, coupled with his chiselled, bronzed Aussie look straight out of a Bonds chesty ad has made the team debutant a magnetic figure.

Australia's Curtis McGrath (R) wins the Gold Medal and puts his arm around Austrian Markus Swoboda, the Silver Medal winner, in the Men's KL2 Final of Canoe Sprint at the Lagoa Stadium.

He said he hoped any attention from his own success inspired more people with disabilities to take up sport.

“The phone’s been going off the tap,” he said.

“There’s a lot of nice comments out there, a lot of support. If we can grow the sport of para-canoe and Paralympic sports in general, there’s many more disabled athletes or potential athletes that could be out here and get to the world stage.

“I hope that me being in the spotlight will help them come out and get involved. I hope some good can come of the status.”

McGrath’s victory was Australia’s 11th gold medal of the games, elevating the Aussies to fifth on the leaderboard and one gold clear of host nation Brazil.

While McGrath stole the show at Lagoa, teammate Amanda Reynolds fell just 0.03s short of matching his gold, winning silver in a photo finish for her women’s KL3 final.

Susan Seipel also won bronze in her women’s KL2 final.

Originally published as 2016 Rio Paralympics: Australian Curtis McGrath wins gold in para-canoe event