Kurt Fearnley eyes marathon gold as he lines up final Paralympics shot in Rio

AFTER a legendary Paralympic career Kurt Fearnley is content Rio will be his final campaign, but first he has designs on a fourth gold medal.

Kurt Fearnley has already won three gold medals in Paralympic competition.

MORE than racing — hell, maybe more than winning — Kurt Fearnley reckons he’ll miss the waiting.

The anxiety. The sleepless night before a Games marathon. The knot that slowly forms in his guts, and twists and turns and snowballs as he pushes his way through the 42km course in his mind.

Playing out every corner, every straight, every downhill run, right down to the exact point he’ll launch his final attack at a farewell gold medal.

“Because that anxiety, that’s what you use during the race,” the Paralympics legend says.

“You turn up and you give it a shake.

“That’s why I can’t wait until the night before the Rio marathon, knowing it will be the last time I race for Australia at a Paralympics.

“You go to bed feeling sick. You barely sleep a wink. But you know that the next morning you’re going to use up every bit of that anxiety and nervousness and excitement. And at the end, there’s nothing left.

“I know this is the last one, so it’s the only chance I’m going to get for that third marathon gold medal.”

When the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games begin, Fearnley will be targeting his fourth Paralympics gold medal — adding to his dual marathon crowns in 2004 and 2008 and his 2004 5000m victory.

He missed out on gold in London four years ago, coming home with silver in the 5000m and bronze in the marathon.

And similar results in Fearnley’s Rio lead-in has only stoked the fire.

In the space of six days he finished third in a photo finish in the Boston Marathon by little more than the length of a chair, before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and scoring second in the London Marathon by the same margin.

“Mate, Boston hurt,” he says.

“I had to have the absolute race of my life just to stay with the guys there. There’s a downhill section where we hit 74kmh but I’m a lot lighter than the other fellas so to stay with them I needed to nail every single turn and attack over the hill — to not even hit a speck of dust to slow me down.

“When I went to attack with about 200m to go and the arms fell in a bit of a pile, it was a moment of reflection that I need a little bit more work under the belt.

“What it told me is I don’t want that feeling again — that feeling of screaming at myself to go quicker and the body not listening.

“It means we just need to find that extra thing — a moment, a gear, whatever it is — in the next four months.”

Adding to his on-track commitments, Fearnley will serve as co-captain of Australia’s Paralympics squad in Rio.

He will partner Daniela Di Toro who, at her sixth Paralympics meet, is shifting from wheelchair tennis player to table-tennis.

Fearnley says he can think of no greater recognition.

“That’s up there with any gold medal,” he says.

“If someone told me 10 or 20 years ago this would be a reality, you just couldn’t imagine it.

Kurt Fearnley is relishing his role as Australia co-captain in Rio.

“I grew up as a young fella at Carcoar believing that the green and gold was royalty. My uncle (Terry) got to coach Australia in rugby league when I was a kid, so you grow up dreaming that pulling on those colours might be a reality.

“In this particular team, we’ve got veterans from Afghansitan and Iraq going. (Shooter) Libby Kosmala is going to her 12th Games.

“There are some of the most powerful people within our country who are in this team so being chosen to help lead that team — mate, I dunno. There’s just no higher honour.”

The 35-year-old is content that this will be his final Paralympic campaign, ahead of a representative para-sport farewell on home soil at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

But Rio will also be a first in the next chapter of his life — as a father.

“Harry, he’s bloody everywhere,” Fearnley laughs of his son, 2.

“I don’t know how mum did five kids. He’s climbing on top of me while I’m training, sitting up in the chair.

“It’s good though, it helps you appreciate what we’ve got.”

Fearnley says whether he finishes first, last, or anywhere between he looks forward to sharing the moment with Harry and wife Sheridan.

“I won New York in 2014 when Harry was eight months old,” he says.

“He will never remember that day; wouldn’t have a clue it even took place.

“But to have him there on that finish line, for me, is one of the most enjoyable moments I’ve ever had in my sport.

“The ability to share it with the people around you, like Sheridan and Harry, and mum and dad, it makes everything worthwhile.

“Once this is all done I can’t wait to be the helicopter parent at his sporting events or whatever he choses to follow, chasing after him and doing everything I can to make sure he loves whatever it is as much as I did.”

Originally published as Kurt Fearnley eyes marathon gold as he lines up final Paralympics shot in Rio