My best and worst moments with Finland’s Leo Pekka-Tahti

Paralympic champion Leo Pekka-Tahti won European gold in the men’s 100m T54 last month – although as he reveals in this week’s ‘Best and Worst Moments’, it was touch and go whether he would be able to compete.

The Finnish wheelchair racer will be hoping to retain his Paralympic title when he lines up at the Rio 2016 Games this September.

Here are Pekka-Tahti’s ‘Best and Worst Moments’:

My worst moment

The circumstances around my European title in Grosseto are very near the worst of my experiences in Para athletics – it was very uncertain whether I would take part. When I tried to brush my teeth the night before the final I couldn’t even manage that as my elbow was so painful. I had hurt it during the final training session the day before. There was a lot of thinking in my hotel that night as to whether or not I should participate – but with a lot of strapping and a lot of help from my physio and my team it was a happy ending.

My best moment

It’s very difficult, maybe London 2012 or Athens 2004. Athens was special because I won my first Paralympic medals – the 100m and 200m T54. I saw my parents crying in the stadium and I’ll never forget that, it was an amazing experience. Of course London was amazing too – the atmosphere, all of the people watching – they gave a lot of support for the athletes and it was the first time in my career when I thought how great it was to be a part of this.

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Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs)

The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.

Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.

Visa International is the exclusive payment card and the official payment system for the Paralympic Games.