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Darren Kenny wins the gold in the men's track cycling individual pursuit (CP3). [Xinhua]
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For British Paralympian Darren Kenny, it was the proverbial bad luck from a black cat crossing his path that literally brought him down.
The 38-year-old former milkman from Bournemouth had raced as a junior cyclist at the national level, but retired at 19 after suffering serious head and neck injuries in a fall during the 1988 Junior Tour of Ireland.
"But it was while working as a milkman in Bournemouth in 1998 that I suffered my worst accident," Kenny told The Paralympian.
He tripped over a cat on a doorstep and fell on the part of his head that had already been injured. The section of his brain that was damaged took another blow.
The accident led him to develop cerebral palsy, a condition in which muscle tone, reflexes, posture or movement are affected by impairment to the brain.
However, he took up cycling again in 2000, wanting to be a good role model for his son, Brandon, who is now 10.
"When I first quit cycling, like any teenager I got a bit distracted having so much time on my hands," Kenny said.
"But whereas I did all the things lads of that age do, after my bad accident I did nothing but start to pile on the weight. I didn't want my son to see me as this unhealthy lump sitting on the sofa all day
"Then, by chance, I heard about disabled cycling through a friend who pestered me to give it a bash."
It proved to a life-changing decision for the Briton.
With five track cycling world records under his belt, it was only a matter of time for Kenny to add a Beijing Paralympic gold to his collection. He had already finished in 3:36.875min to break his own former world record by nearly 6 sec in the men's individual pursuit qualifying round yesterday morning.
Six hours later, the two-time Paralympian stepped onto the podium for gold.
"To me, cycling means everything," Kenny said as he straddled his black bike.
"Cycling brings me the feeling of freedom."
With two gold medals from the Athens Paralympics, a silver and a 1km time trial world record, Kenny is a model not only for his son, but everyone else.
After his gold in Beijing, Kenny will compete in the men's 1km time trial and the men's team sprint for track cycling, as well as the men's individual time trial and men's individual road race.
"My grandparents took me to the Milk Race when I was 10. It was the first major sporting event I had seen, and I loved the noise, the horns, and the cyclists flying past," Kenny said of his first time at a major cycling competition.
"I went home and wanted to ride a bike for the rest of my life."