Curtis courts canoeing to fight disability

The New Zealand-born para-canoeist, living in Gold Coast, Australia is in Chennai as part of a ‘Disability4 All Campaign’, to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Australia is keen to ensure that people with a disability are included in everyday life and receive the recognition they deserve. 

Curtis lost both his legs when working for Australian army in 2012. “I was on deployment in Afghanistan when I stepped on a landmine,” said the 29-year-old Aussie, who had joined the Australian army in 2006. “My girlfriend Rachel stood by me to help me pursue sports after the accident,” he added.

It was a difficult choice for someone like Curtis to identify his chosen sport. “I tried swimming, bowling, athletics, mainly the throw events, wheelchair basketball and archery before coming to canoeing,” recounted Curtis, who was brought by the Australian Consulate to motivate people with disablity.

With a military background, it was natural that Curtis went for an active lifestyle. In 2014, he took a plunge into canoeing. In just three years, he has grown to be the fastest sprint canoeist in his category. 

“My height, six feet three inches, helped me do well in canoeing. In the 2014 Para World Championship, I won the gold in canoeing in the V1 class (one person in boat),” recalled Curtis. Next up for him was kayaking and in the World Championship, he won a second place in Milan (Italy).

Curtis had peaked at the right time and in the Rio Paralympic Games, the Aussie bagged the gold in kayaking. He did not stop there. He went on to win a double in this year’s World Championship in August in Czech Republic, bagging the canoeing and kayaking gold medals. 

The Aussie feels athletes with disability need money, equipment and opportunities to make it big in international sport. “There should be equal opportunity for everyone,” he said and added companies should come forward to sponsor para athletes before they become successful and not after that. “India had five medals in Paralympic Games in 2016 and two in Olympics,” he said and signed off by saying that he is keen to add a gold in the next Paralympic Games in Tokyo.