Curtis McGrath says he owed it to his wife and six-week-old son to return to Australia with a gold medal after the king of the kayak romped to a third consecutive 200m (KL2) victory.

After golds in Rio and Tokyo, the former soldier delivered on the expectation that he would net a third straight gold in Vaires-sur-Marne on Saturday.

But McGrath’s build-up to the Paralympic Games in Paris was hit with a major disruption in July when wife Rachel gave birth to their first child, Monty.

Monty required open heart surgery on the day he was born and McGrath had to make the agonising decision to leave his wife and newborn son in Australia as he went in pursuit of a third gold.

“That was one of the hardest goodbyes I’ve ever had to do, to come over here for this prep and then into the Games,” McGrath said.

“It has been difficult, but at the same time, putting it all together and producing a result, I’m super stoked.”

While Rachel and Monty weren’t present in the outskirts of the French capital, the 36-year-old, who will also contest the va’a 200m (VL3) on Sunday, still received great backing.

Alongside McGrath’s parents were five of the soldiers who rescued him when he lost both legs after stepping on a landmine in Afghanistan in 2012.

“They’re the ones who carried my stretcher, putting the tourniquets on and literally saving my life,” McGrath said.

“They’re all there and were part of my journey, recovery and in the traumatic moment of that blast they were with me, and they’re still here supporting me.

“I think there were a few sore heads this morning.”

McGrath’s success was followed by a silver for Dylan Littlehales in the 200m kayak (KL3) and a bronze for Susain Seipel in the 200m va’a (VL2).

The result was particularly gratifying for Littlehales, who narrowly missed the podium in Tokyo but surged home to medal in a 12-month period where both his parents have been diagnosed with different types of cancer.

“I had a good feeling I was second, but sometimes you don’t know with lunges,” Littlehales said.

“It’s a bit of a relief, it didn’t kick in until I was on the podium that I’ll be able to call myself a Paralympic medallist.

“It’s been very nice to have them (my family) here and we can go celebrate how far we’ve come over the last few years.

“They’ve had a terrible few years with cancer, so to have them here means the world to us.”

Letter perfect Turner

James Turner is lauding the influence of coach Iryna Dvoskina after a raceday letter helped him win the 100m Paralympic final (T36) on top of his 400m crown.

Turner will return to Australia next week a double gold medallist after bursting out of the blocks at the Stade de France on Saturday to equal the Paralympic record with a time of 11.85secs.

Australia has won just three gold medals in athletics in Paris, with Turner providing two and long-jumper Vanessa Low adding the third.

Success in the 100m meant a lot to Turner, who has been stewing on his second-place finish from Tokyo for the last three years.

And he’s found that pre-race letters from Ukrainian coach Dvoskina have boosted his confidence.

Turner believes the letters have helped calm his nerves and ready him to hit the track fast.

“Redemption for me, but also vindication for my coach, Iryna… This is her 72nd major champs medal for Australia since 2003,” Turner said.

“She’s so wonderful, she dedicates her whole life to athletics.

“She sent me her usual letter (this morning). She said that I’ve done all the work, the track will suit me and she said she knows I can do it.”

Turner reckons he barely slept before his 400m win earlier this week but Dvoskina’s calming influence helped pave his path to glory.

Her steadying presence has helped Turner in his build-up to the Games where he has been worried about the after-effects of a bout of glandular fever.

Of his two races he argued the 100m and the need for a fast start had been impacted the most by his brush with illness.

“It was looking a bit doubtful there for a minute,” Turner said.

“But the key today was just following my own race plan, not thinking about what the other athletes are doing.

“I still work with a psychologist too, every athlete needs to. To run 400m, you have to be a bit crazy, so that mental work is crucial.

“Before the 400 final here I barely slept. I ran the race in my head 10, 15 times before I got going. But Iryna sat me down and told me how ready I was.”

Elsewhere on the penultimate day of the Paris Paralympics, Rheed McCracken clinched a bronze in the 800m (T34) and Reece Langdon won the same medal in the 1500m (T38), while swimmer Col Pearse saluted his late grandfather after he won silver.

Langdon had to leave his charge for the line late, with the 28-year-old ousting Australia teammate Angus Hincksman for a spot on the podium.

“Tactically, I wasn’t the best today, I made a lot of mistakes and I shouldn’t have got boxed in,” Langdon said.

“I know I’m much quicker than that, I’ll learn from this and come back stronger.”

How Australia fared on Day 10

GOLD

Curtis McGrath (para-canoe, men’s KL2 200m kayak) – Started under attack but surged home to cap a traumatic six weeks following the birth of his first child to win a third-straight gold.

James Turner (athletics, men’s T36 100m) – Won silver in this event in Tokyo but has finally got his hands on the prize he craved the most. Leaves Paris with a gold in the 400m too.

SILVER

Dylan Littlehales (para-canoe, men’s KL3 200m kayak) – Couldn’t reel in Algerian Brahim Guendouze but Littlehales fought all the way to grab a silver and extinguish the hurt of a fourth-place finish in Tokyo.

Col Pearse (swimming, S10 men’s 200m individual medley) – Pearse got his first medal of the Games in a tight finish behind reigning Italian world champion Stefano Raimondi.

Rowan Crothers, Alexa Leary, Chloe Osborn and Callum Simpson (swimming, 34-point mixed 100m medley) – Crothers swam the anchor leg and clawed Australia back into contention from fourth to finish 0.36secs behind eventual winners Italy.

BRONZE

Rheed McCracken (athletics, men’s T34 800m) – Wheelchair racer picks up his sixth Paralympic medal and did so by just 0.01secs to hold off Wang Yang of China.

Lina Lei (table tennis, women’s S9 singles) – Had to fight back from 2-1 down against Xiong Guyan of China but was unable to clinch it in the decisive fifth set.

Lin Ma (table tennis, men’s S9 singles) – Pushed Frenchman Lucas Dider all the way, going down in a 3-2 semi-final defeat.

Susain Seipel (para-canoe, women’s VL2 200m va’a) – The 38-year-old picked up her third medal at a third Games. Seipel will also compete in the kayak singles, the semi-finals for which take place on Sunday (local time).

Reece Langdon (athletics, men’s T38 1500m) – Langdon and fellow Australian Angus Hincksman were right in contention until the last lap when Tunisian winner Amen Allah Tissaoui pushed on to win, closely followed by Canadian Nate Reich.

ELSEWHERE

*Judo – Paralympic debutant Taylor Gosens was knocked out of the +70kg J2 competition with straight defeats. Gosens lost 10-0 to Zarina Raifova of Kazakhstan in the repechage.

* Powerlifting – Australian Ben Wright (88kg) finished seventh with a best lift of 192kg to set a new Oceania record. China’s Yan Panpan won gold, bench pressing a remarkable 242kg.

MEDAL TABLE (after day 10)

1. China – Gold: 94, Silver: 73, Bronze 49. Total: 216.

2. Great Britain – Gold: 47, Silver: 41, Bronze 31. Total: 119.

3. USA – Gold: 35, Silver: 41, Bronze 25. Total: 101.

4. Netherlands – Gold: 26, Silver: 17, Bronze 12. Total: 55.

**

9. Australia – Gold: 18, Silver: 16, Bronze 28. Total: 62.

—AAP