Paralympic champion Austin Smeenk still basking in gold at post-Games party back home
CBC
Austin Smeenk has a tattoo on his arm that reads "dream, desire, do."
And at the Paris Paralympics, the Canadian wheelchair sprinter got it done — he returned with gold and bronze medals.
Speaking back home at his parents' house on Saturday in Shanty Bay, Ont., about 125 kilometres north ot Toronto, Smeenk said his accomplishments still haven't quite sunk in, but that it feels "amazing" coming home with hardware for the first time at his third Games.
"It feels fantastic. A lot of hard work went into it. So it feels, I don't know, like riding a snowmobile in perfect conditions — except everybody cares," Smeenk said.
Indeed, the 27-year-old Smeenk enjoyed hordes of support both in Paris and back home.
On Saturday, they all came together in one place as friends, family and Oro-Medonte, Ont., mayor Randy Greenlaw gathered on a sunny September day to celebrate not only Smeenk's accomplishments, but also welcome back Paralympic discus silver medallist Jesse Zesseu of Toronto; runner Zachary Gingras, of Markham, Ont., who placed fifth in the T38 400m; and thrower Charlotte Bolton, of Tillsonburg, Ont., who earned two top-10 finishes in Paris.
Standing under an arrangement of gold and white balloons, and with a Canadian flag flying above, Greenlaw presented each of the four athletes with a certificate.
"The one thing I really do think is amazing is they refer to what they've experienced as 'we're a team,'" Greenlaw said.
"And we work together for a team, whether it's the ones who were on the podium, who didn't make the podium, who didn't make the team to go there. But they all group back together and support one another."
WATCH l Smeenk races to 800m gold at Paris Paralympics:
Canada won 29 medals in total at the Paralympics — eight more than in Tokyo — and doubled its gold count from five to 10.
Both numbers were aided by Smeenk, who'd placed top-eight in four previous Paralympic races but was unable to crack the podium.
At the world championships in Paris last year, he finally broke through with a silver and bronze, portending his prosperous year ahead. But in February in Dubai, Smeenk endured five consecutive fourth-place finishes.
"I got my ass kicked," Smeenk said. "When I got back, one of our coaches out west, Mark Rowland, was like, 'Let them be fast in February — no one cares about being fast in February, and probably the best thing that could have happened to you is that you got beat because now you know how to put your head down and do what you've been doing.'"
