When Cody Fournie found himself at a crossroads in his athletic career, he headed to the track.
The former wheelchair rugby player won gold in wheelchair racing on Tuesday at the Paris Paralympic Games.
The 35-year-old British Columbian won the men’s T51 200m, doubling Canada’s gold haul at the Paris Paralympic Games after para-swimmer Nicholas Bennett won the day before.
“During the pandemic, I was in transition and had no idea what I was going to do,” Fournie said Tuesday.
“I didn’t know for how long I was going to be able to play rugby. Then I met someone who referred me to coach Geoff [Harris]and the rest is history,” he added.
Fournie clocked a personal best of 37.64 seconds in the 200m.
“It’s fantastic. All I can say is that the hard work, nutrition and hydration have paid off,” said the Canadian.
Finland’s Toni Piispanen finished second in 38.55 seconds, followed by Belgium’s Peter Genyn in 38.65.
Fournie won silver in the 100m in May at the World Championships in Kobe, Japan.
He will take part in this event on Friday at the Stade de France.
“The 200m has always been very difficult,” Fournie admitted. “My coach and I never stopped believing. During the first 100m of the 200m, we developed a new pushing technique and it paid off.
“They were very short, quick bursts and then I was able to get into my stride,” he added.
Fournie, who has been paraplegic since the age of 11, played wheelchair rugby from 2010 before making the jump to athletics a decade later.
“The transition from rugby to running helped me because I put so much time and effort into it in training,” he said. “The hardest part was understanding the dynamics of the wheelchair.
“Then I have no muscles in my stomach, I had to use my head to adapt to the wheelchair, and that took a while,” he concluded.
Fournie’s victory gave the country a third medal in track and field. Quebec’s Brent Lakatos won silver, while Ontario’s Austin Smeenk took bronze.