Meet totally blind Australian para-triathletes and chocolate makers with titanium ribs
Gerrard Gosens has represented Australia in various sports for more than 30 years.
He’s competed at three Paralympic Games and more than a dozen world championships — and climbed Everest, and danced with the stars, and launched a thriving business, and was awarded an OAM… the list goes on.
There’s not much these para-triathlons can’t do—except look. He was completely blind all his life.
One of the oldest members of the Australian team in Birmingham, Gosens will make his Commonwealth Games debut in the men’s PTVI triathlon.
He told the ABC it would also be his last major international gathering.
Birmingham will be a unique and bitter first final
The para-triathlon for athletes who use a wheelchair made its debut at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Birmingham will be the first visually impaired athlete to be able to compete at the event, and while Gosens is classified as PTVI1 — the highest visual impairment classification — athletes classified as PTVI1, PTVI2 and PTVI3 all race in the same event.
“It’s time to hang up my boots and support other athletes on their journey to come and represent Australia,” he said.
“This is my goose song, I will give it all I have until the last line.”
He will run, swim and tandem bike on the course of Sutton Park with guide Hayden Armstrong, who he describes as a “highly accomplished athlete”.
After a three-decade career of international representation, Gosens says he is more motivated than ever to give it his all.
“The funny thing about being totally blind is that being Australian isn’t [about] can see the Australian flag, because I’ve never seen an Australian flag,” he said.
“It’s not about wearing green and gold tracksuits because I’ve never seen green and gold.
“It is a true belief to be Australian, and for me, it is a pure honor to represent my country.”
Commonwealth Games bid nearly slips
In March Gosens was involved in a serious bicycle accident which left him hospitalized for more than two weeks with multiple fractures.
“I now have a titanium collarbone and eight titanium ribs,” he said.
“Thankfully Gold Coast University Hospital was kind enough to notice my pursuit and speed up my recovery. I was able to jump out of my hospital bed and go straight back to training, and I’m 90 percent back where I was from the accident.”
He said his first run after leaving hospital was “terrible”. But just four months later, he’ll be racing on the world stage—and not just by luck.
“I’ve run from Cairns to Brisbane five times, I’ve climbed Everest, all the adventures I’ve had, my body is learning to recover quickly and recover well,” he said.
“It must be the chocolate, I’m sure. Chocolate heals everything.”
And he will know.
How pursuing athletic glory results in chocolate excellence
Gosens has been a chocolate maker for 15 years, making delicious treats from his family business in Brisbane.
But traveling the world for the sport that led him to this passion.
“To walk into a shop overseas when you want to buy a gift for your wife or family or friends, it’s really hard to know if it’s a T-shirt or a nice keepsake,” he said.
“So chocolate has always been an easy thing to get to, and I developed awareness and taste for chocolate all over the world.”
Load
His physical exercise routine was accompanied by “crazy chocolate making and shelf-filling” with wife Heather in the weeks before leaving for Birmingham.
Looking to the next generation
Birmingham 2022 may be his last international encounter – but Gosens is not leaving the sport for good.
After spending years on the Paralympic advisory committee, he will turn his attention to helping other young athletes reach their full potential.
He has coached many athletes and says there are many opportunities for everyday sports lovers to contribute to the development of para-sports.
“I’ve got some great examples of young people here guiding. There’s a shattered perception of how one young child can help another child in their sporting development,” he said.
Load
“The growth of the Paralympic movement around the world has been sensational in its exposure and awareness, but it comes from a very challenging base.
“If you look back at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, back then there was a lot of disapproval of people with disabilities participating. Now there’s real inclusion across a whole range of different sports, but the track still needs a lot of work.”
Catch Gerrard Gosens in the men’s PTVI triathlon on day three of the 2022 Commonwealth Games — Sunday evening Australian time.
#Meet #totally #blind #Australian #paratriathletes #chocolate #makers #titanium #ribs
Comments
Post a Comment