Anthony Piovesan
THERE were more tears shed than droplets of sweat when a Scottish triathlete returned to competition five years after suffering life-threatening injuries and crossed the finish line hand-in-hand with one of his closest rivals.
Scott Gordon was one of the survivors of a tragic incident on May 7 in 2017 when a drunk driver ploughed into a group of six cyclists on the N-332 highway, killing three people.
The group were training with other members of the Club Atletisme Llebeig on the main thoroughfare in Oliva at the time.
Scott, who was still yet to recover from his injuries, on Sunday crossed the finish line of his first triathlon since that fatal day.
Huge crowds at the tenth edition of the Zabia triathlon (TriXABIA) cheered, applauded and shed tears when the 51-year-old completed the race side-by-side with fellow survivor Jaume Escortell.
Scott spent two years on crutches as his left leg, which was at one point seven centimeters shorter than his right, was reconstructed by surgeons.
Scott and Jaume melted into an embrace after crossing the finish line, who participated to honour the lives of their three friends.
The first TriXàbia was held in 2012 and grew in popularity over the years until it started to attract triathletes from all over the world to Xàbia.
Since 2017, this triathlon is also the memorial of Edu Monfort, one of three victims in 2017.
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