Triathlon takes Lewis from trauma to triumph
A TRIATHLETE who had his dream of joining the army dashed by a motorcycle accident aged 16 won gold at the Paralympics just two years after entering his first competition.
Andy Lewis completed his first triathlon in 2014 after learning to swim with a prosthetic leg but he took victory in the PT-2 class in 1:11.49 yesterday, nearly a minute quicker than silver medallist, Italy’s Michele Ferrarin.
The 33-year-old burst through the finishing tape on Copacabana beach to the cheers of fans and locals who had taken a break from sipping coconuts on the sand.
‘I can’t believe that has happened,’ he said, ‘I’m just in shock, I’m Paralympic, world and European champion and perhaps I’ll have my first beer in two years now.’
Lewis was about to begin training to join the British Army Parachute Regiment in 2000 when the motorbike he was riding was dragged under a lorry, crushing his left leg and leaving him hospitalised for four months.
‘I thought both my life and career were over,’ he wrote on his website,
He was a keen long-distance runner and had been in supreme physical shape but his leg was rendered almost useless after the accident.
He endured several operations to try and repair the damage and it was not until 2005 that he decided to have it amputated below the knee. ‘Once my leg was amputated I went slightly downhill,’ he wrote.
‘I didn’t know which way to turn. I used to sit in my room getting upset as I watched the troops on TV, I wanted to join them, particularly my brother who was in Iraq. My mother would try to stop me crying and explain that things in life happen for a reason.
‘After some careful consideration I decided that the only way my situation would change was if I made it happen.’
Lewis applied for a disabled flying scholarship and gained his pilot’s licence but it was watching London 2012 which inspired him to try disability athletics.
‘It brings tears to my eyes that I’ll be able to tell my kids that I won this gold medal,’ he said.
There was concern as Joe Townsend, a Royal Marine who lost both legs in Afghanistan, collapsed after finishing sixth in the PT-1 triathlon and was stretchered from the course by medics but after being assessed he was given a clean bill of health.