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Jaco Van Gass can be called Mr Indestructible. The Parachute Regiment veteran, who lost his left arm after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan, won cycling gold in Paris despite fears that a collision with a car last week could derail his Paralympic dream.
Van Gass, who retained his 3000m C3 individual pursuit title on the track with another win over team-mate Fin Graham, suffered cuts and a black eye when the accident happened in the French capital while he was checking the race circuit.
“It was heartbreaking at first. I literally thought this could be my Paralympics over,” Van Gass explained. “I had a big cut on my head. I was in a lot of pain in my knee and yes, they called an ambulance and took me to the hospital. We went through major concussion protocols, I took a day off to let my body settle and then I got back on the bike. I had no bleeding on the brain or anything.
“The medical team were amazing. They did some scans. I was discharged that afternoon and went home. Then, at (ParalympicsGB) and our amazing British Cycling medical staff, I was really well looked after and I was back on the bike within two days. And the car? “It was a Renault. So yeah, the car is more or less fine,” he joked. “It wasn’t a hit and run. The gentleman stopped, got out and helped me. So yeah, there was an ambulance very quickly on the scene. There were other people who saw it and they calmed me down and kept me on the ground.”
“But I was 100 per cent worried that there wouldn’t be a Games. The next day is always the hardest because that’s when you feel the most pain in your body. You’re really sore and stiff, so on Saturday I had a hard time knowing if I was going to be able to compete. On Sunday I was on the track and I knew I was going to be fine. The biggest worry was my knee. I hit the car and got a bruise on the bone, so I had to ice it regularly.”
Nothing seems to faze Van Gass, who was born in South Africa and moved to the UK at 20 before joining the British Army and the Parachute Regiment. Since suffering his life-changing war injury in Afghanistan, he has climbed Everest and admitted yesterday that “there are more adrenaline-fuelled things to come” but that “for the last two years I have been solely focused on getting this gold back at these Games”.
He added that retaining gold was “on par” with his life experiences. “Right now, that’s my focus and what I’m here to do. So it’s No. 1. I came into Tokyo as a bit of an underdog, came away with two gold medals and three world records.
“Coming here meant a lot more pressure on me, to try and retain it. More pressure on me, not on anyone else. So yeah, to retain that title is a dream come true and I worked really hard. So, a great achievement. Now I can enjoy the rest. I have a very busy track session. I still have tomorrow and Sunday and now I can focus on that. So yeah, I probably need to go and cool down.”
Graham was generous in defeat. “It’s a carbon copy of the Tokyo result,” he said. “Obviously it would have been nice to have had a slightly different result, but in this event the strongest rider of the day wins and today that was Jaco. He’s super determined. We have a very strong team, the coaching staff, the riders, we all push each other and since Tokyo we’ve been trading world titles. I’ve won some, he’s won some and no one else has had a chance to win, so it’s been both of us pushing each other and getting the best out of each other, which has been great.”
Van Gass returned the compliment. “Fin is a phenomenal rider. I think we have a big advantage as a British team with him and I being on the same team – the competitors drive each other so that’s what keeps us wanting more. I think it’s very easy to get complacent when you’re so far ahead of him and me – we’re never far from each other. He pushes me, I push him, and seeing him break that record (earlier in the day) made me want to push harder.
Reflecting on his experience in the military, Van Gass said, “I think you just learn how to deal with life.”
Elsewhere, British Adaptive Cycling team Lizzi Jordan won a gold medal in the women’s 1000m B time trial, ridden by Danni Khan, and Sophie Unwin took a bronze medal ridden by Jenny Holl. Blaine Hunt claimed a silver medal in the men’s 1000m C4-5 time trial and Matthew Robertson won a bronze medal in the men’s 3000m C2 individual pursuit.
