French cyclist David Travadon says he is the best person on the planet to teach soldiers to be good mine sweepers.
Travadon lost his right lower arm and his left eye in 2009 as he was marking the demarcation line on the Lebanon-Israeli border. A landmine detonated near him.
Unlike many competitors at the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 presented by Jaguar Land Rover, who are forced to leave the military because of their injuries, Travadon remained with the French army to train other deminers.
“It’s not hard to stay in the military,” he said after winning double gold in the time trial and criterium for his road bike category in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden on Sunday.
“Now I am in charge of the men in my unit – I train them. I do the same things without a hand and with only one eye.
“I am the biggest example for them. My chief says to them ‘See him – be quiet and listen’.”
Travadon, 41, is currently at his fourth Invictus Games. He has been at the event for currently serving men and women, and retired veterans, since its inception in 2014 in London.
“There is no Games better than another. Every Games is on its own – you can’t compare,” he said. “But at each Games you want to get up and get better.”
Travadon and French teammate Nicolus Melen proved a two-man hurdle to the riders from Team USA and the UK making a clean sweep of the men’s medals in Sydney on Sunday.
The Frenchman conquered the road bike field on the picturesque 2.4km course in both his events, but still said he did not feel overly proud of his efforts.
“Not proud even though I work hard. The sport gives me a good balance for my life.
“The goal is not to win and be recognised. When you give something your all, you stand in front of the mirror and you are happy.
“If it’s first place or seventh place, as long as I gave it everything I had, then I ‘won’ already,” he said.
He was involved in sport before he suffered his injuries in Lebanon.
“I was a triathlete before my accident. While the medics were treating me just seconds later (after the explosion), I said to them ‘Sport will be my way forward’.
“It was six months in hospital but I knew sport was again waiting for me.”
He has a message to other people with a disability – not necessarily of a military background – who have partial sight or have lost a limb.
“Things will crush you in life, sometimes you run into big trouble,” Travadon said. “But they keep you strong, make you stronger.”
Margie McDonald
Invictus Games Sydney 2018