Game Changers: Meet Curtis McGrath and His Inspiring Journey to Paralympic Gold in Para Canoe 🇦🇺🏅

Published: Mar 31, 2024 Duration: 00:03:17 Category: Sports

Tags : Olympics yt:cc=on olympic games disability paralympics paralympic games disability sports

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My name is Curtis McGrath and I'm a Para canoe athlete from Australia. My disability is a bilateral leg amputee. I had an incident in 2012 in Afghanistan while serving with the Australian Army, and I stood on an improvised explosive device or a homemade landmine. That detonated beneath me and took both my legs sort of instantly. Through that process of healing and surgery and recovery, I knew that my legs weren't coming back. I think the biggest challenge I had to face was sort of coming to terms with who I was. What I perceived as a normal life ahead of me was not there. And getting into sport, that gave me the opportunity to see what was possible, what was available, and what the opportunities around me were and the people there to support me through those opportunities. I took up Para sport after getting injured and using sport as my sort of vehicle for recovery. I tried a few different sports and really enjoyed Para canoe and sort of haven’t looked back. I picked up the paddle in 2013 and really enjoyed it. So it's been a little goal at a time and each step and hurdle that I've got to meant that I'm getting closer and closer to the Paralympic Games. What I enjoy most about my sport is actually getting out on the water and being out outside in the environment. So peaceful. But also we can really ramp it up and make an exercise and high performance. The feeling I got when I crossed the line in Rio winning that gold medal was not what I expected. I expected joy and celebration. But what I actually got was this huge wave of relief. The relief, I think, was a culmination of how much work and recovery and time and effort that myself and my support team had put into me. And it had all paid off. I competed at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. I competed in two boats. I competed in a kayak and I also competed in the Va’a canoe, the V1. It was an amazing experience being there and finally getting the opportunity to compete, but also having everyone supporting us back home. The journey leading up to Paris has been very different. Obviously, it's a shorter cycle. I've been named as the co-captain of the Australian Paralympic team, so it's going to be a different sort of Games. So, you know, I’m enjoying this journey. My expectations for Paris: I'd love to be on the podium for both boats again. I know that there's a lot of new faces out there and a lot of people that have put in a hell of a lot of work. You can only go out there and do your best. I’m just going to be excited to be there. Para sport and Para canoe really changed my life because it gave me a purpose. It gave me an opportunity to get outside. You know, not every disabled person needs to be a Paralympian, but I think we all need to be fit and healthy. We need to be active. We need to be connected to our community. I think Para sport can do that for everyone and even for people not living with the disability be involved with Para sport to volunteer, to support, to get involved, and I think you'll learn a lot from a person with a disability.

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