When Spain's Ricardo Ten Argiles was eight years old he touched a high-voltage power line and was electrocuted, suffering injuries so horrific that he had to have both his arms and one leg amputated.
On Monday, at the age of 47, he won his third para track cycling world title, obliterating the rest of the field in the C1 scratch race, averaging 44 kilometers an hour over 60 circuits of the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
But that is only half of his inspirational story.
Ten, who hails from Valencia, is writing a second chapter to a remarkable tale of sporting endeavor in the face of adversity.
Before taking up cycling, he was already a three-time Paralympic gold medalist in swimming, having made his debut at Atlanta in 1996. He has three world titles in para swimming.
Now he has his sights set on adding to his haul of gold medals at next year's Paris Paralympics.
"In Rio 2016 I changed to cycling because it was a goal again that kept my motivation very high because I keep progressing every season," Ten said.
"The style of training is very similar. You need to use different muscles but it didn't take much effort to swap from swimming pool to the bike."
Ten, who took years to recover from his injuries, has used a specially designed bike since switching seven years ago.
It has handlebars that are molded to fit his stumps while his prosthetic left leg does not have a foot but clips directly on to his pedal.
The UCI World Championships in Glasgow is the first to have para cyclists and able-bodied athletes competing on the same program and it has proved a hit with crowds, especially with Britain's para riders collecting 15 golds so far.
Ricardo Ten Argiles has his sights set on winning Paralympic gold in Paris. AFP
