It should have been a moment of defeat but this post-race interview is nothing short of inspiring.
Australian Paralympian Kurt Fearnley has sent waves through the sporting community with an interview that redefines true sportsmanship.
Moments after he missed out on gold in the marathon the five time Paralympian wheelchair racer was asked for thoughts he would give his younger self.
“If you could go back to that 13-year-old boy what would you say to him?” the reporter asked.
“I would avoid him at all costs,” Fearnley said without skipping a beat. “I would let him do everything that he had to do to get to this point, and every point that’s happened.”
“Some of the most memorable moments are the hardest moments, and they’re the things that you eventually become most proud of.”
A teary Fearnley, clearly emotional at recalling the years of hard work and sacrifice that have gone into his Paralympic career, said the days that bring him the most pride are not the days when he wins.
“Those days that you wake up and you win, they’re awesome, you know. They’re the easy days. But those days where you wake up and you can barely drag yourself out of bed… where you’re in so much pain and discomfort, where you’re mentally just trying to grind yourself to just… believe,” he said.
“They’re the tough days and they’re the ones that I’m proud of.”
The 11 time Paralympic medalist was leading the marathon for the majority of the race but missed out on gold by one second after Switzerland’s Marcel Hug caught up with him in the final 200m.
The journalists’s question came after Fearnley posted a status to Twitter the night before his race marvelling at how far he had come.
Fearnley has now retired from his athletic career. He won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
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