the cherry on the cake for a flawless Paralympic Games

The legend of Ricardo Dix (Valence1975) seems to have no limits. When you think he has given everything he has in him, he always pulls one more trick out of his hat. He is a born winner and in the 2024 Paralympic Games He proves it in spades. He still had the gold to complete the loop and has definitely risen to Paris winning the road cycling time trial.

Without compensation and flying over the Parisian asphalt. Ten had victory between his eyebrows and did not hesitate to handcuff all his rivals. A hellish pace from the start impossible to reproduce for the rest. He stopped the clock at 20:39.53 with a 38-second lead over the German. Michael Teuber and 1:18 minutes ahead of the medals. Unstoppable.

He knew that in this event he was one of the favourites and he did not fail to live up to expectations. He does not usually do that. He won his first Paralympic gold medal in cycling and has completed an excellent Games with, so far, three medals (one silver and one bronze). He made his debut a few days ago with a third place in the pursuit event on the track and won silver 72 hours later in the team sprint.

Now 49, Ten has won the eleventh Paralympic medal of his career, although most of them have come in the swimming discipline. In total, seven of them have come from the pool (three gold, one silver and three bronze) and only two from cycling (two bronze). It was in Rio 2016 when he changed water for asphalt, because he considered that there was nothing more to do under the surface and he had always dreamed, since he was a child, of being a professional cyclist.

Overcoming obstacles

Ricardo Ten has more than lived up to his promise in Paralympic sport. He has established himself as a legend and has done so by overcoming several obstacles that have occurred throughout his life. The most traumatic, an accident that occurred when he was eight years old.

Playing with his brother in a house under construction, Ten suffered a strong electric shock that caused him to lose both arms and his right leg, in addition to burning 75% of his body. However, years later, he found in his accident an opportunity to shine.

“Life is not easy but it is nice to live it, you have to overcome the difficult moments. No matter how many bad situations happen to us, in the end we always end up overcoming them, the good times are always warmer than the bad ones. You have to learn to live to enjoy these good times,” Ricardo Ten said in an interview with Nius a few years ago.

“You can’t give up at the first attempt along the way, if you don’t succeed, nothing happens, you also have to know how to enjoy the journey, because not all efforts have a reward, even if you do your best. It doesn’t guarantee that you will achieve your goal, but it doesn’t mean you have to stop trying,” he added.