Paralympics in Paris

After three silver medals, “Triggertom” is now aiming for gold

Thomas Frühwirth during training

(Bild: Frühwirth)

Thomas Frühwirth from Edelsbach in Styria has been one of the world's elite para-athletes for years. Triathlon and cycling are his passions. He has already won silver three times at the Paralympics. Now he wants to add gold in Paris - for which the 43-year-old has trained to the point of unconsciousness.

You're going into next week's Paralympics as the gold medal favorite. Is this the biggest challenge of your life?
Nowhere is the sporting challenge greater than at the Paralympics. I'll be competing in the highest handbike class from Wednesday. I'm racing against people who ride motocross in their spare time because they only have a slight disability. But I think it's cool that I can still keep up with the guys as a midlife athlete. I dare say that of all the top athletes, I'm the one who puts in the most training and does his best.

How hard did you train for these Paralympics in Paris? 
 I train up to 1200 hours a year. I believe that there are only a few top athletes who push through this workload. I have 450 races behind me and have circumnavigated the globe several times. I've been a professional athlete since 2011 and have never taken more than two weeks off since then. I train twice a day, six times a week. In preparation for the Paralympics, I went to altitude training four times and spent months alone in South Africa and Australia for performance and mental training

That sounds like a torturous road to gold.
I chose the torture myself. Just yesterday I nearly fainted at the end of my training sessions. That's what you do to yourself, otherwise you stay on the feel-good track. For me, hard training is a pleasure.

Frühwirth has already won silver three times at the Paralympics

(Bild: Frühwirth)

That's hard to comprehend. Do you have a different way of thinking?
The great happiness is not the race and the medal, but purely the doing that satisfies me. It's also a way of saying thank you to life and death. This passion goes hand in hand with a fulfilled life. You can have billions, but you can't buy the joy of life with it.

Are you an encouragement to others?
I think so. Even if I'm not a genetic miracle, I've encouraged two athletes to win the World Cup in top-level sport alone. I think it's a shame that there are people who don't make anything of themselves and just moan about how bad everything is with or without a disability. Who need their 10 beers a day to make life more bearable. There's no reason for that in Austria. We should be happy to have been born here. Our state could and should afford to send every 15-year-old to Africa to learn what it means to fight for life.

About the person

Thomas Frühwirth has been in a wheelchair since a motorcycle accident in 2004. Just a few months later, he began training with a handbike and ventured into professional sport in 2012. In addition to paracycling, triathlon - especially the Ironman competitions - is his great passion. In 2022, he won the Ironman in Hawaii in a new record time, this year he took bronze at the World Championships in the handbike road race and was crowned European champion in the individual time trial. In 2023, he was voted Austria's Disabled Athlete of the Year.

Are you valued as a disabled athlete?
Well, there was no farewell ceremony for athletes in Styria this time. Because it probably doesn't pay off for those few people. We won't bring top-class sport closer to young people that way and that's a huge problem. In terms of funding, things have changed for the better. Since Rio, we have received the same support as the Olympic athletes.

Also in terms of sponsorship?
Of course, as a disabled athlete you can draw the card of the athlete worthy of support. I could have made a lot more money from sponsorship. But whenever pity is involved, I run away. I'm probably too proud because I'd rather show off my performance than my disability.

Frühwirth helped develop the handbike he rides

(Bild: Frühwirth)

Can you make a living from top-class sport?
Yes. I've officially been in the army since 2017 and receive a basic pension of 1,200 euros. So if you play in the third soccer league, you earn more. Performance bonuses are only available at the Paralympics. You get 12,000 euros for winning gold and you won't get rich compared to other countries. The French win is worth 80,000 euros, the Italians 70,000 euros. Even the fourth-place finisher still gets 40,000 euros for the tin cup.

Are you regarded as a successful Olympian in your home country?
I'll put it this way. I find it just as difficult here in Edelsbach as my neighbor, the legendary fantasist Franz Gsellmann. In top-class sport, you're only focused on one thing and only move in your own world. That was also the case with Gsellmann, who forgot about farming and only had his world machine in his head. As a competitive athlete, you're in the same corner because you neglect everything else. That has to be the case if you want to be at the top. I haven't regretted anything so far. I love my monastic life.

What comes after top-class sport?
I've never been afraid of the future. I've already had various jobs and would like to train high-end competitive athletes. And I have this dream of meeting people at the supermarket checkout who radiate happiness and enthusiasm. Anyone who has found a passion for themselves, whether in art, sport, work or family, finds it hard to fall into a losing streak or depression, or makes a big problem of themselves.