‘I’ve lived many lifetimes’: surfer Owen Wright’s remarkable journey from brain injury to Olympic glory
Owen Wright and I have been chatting for about an hour when we both know, with resigned inevitability, that we are going to have to talk about the worst day of his life. Our conversation is on Zoom, but even on a video call you can see Wright, a 33-year-old Australian professional surfer, involuntarily stiffen. “It gives me a sore neck,” he says, giving it a little rub. “It doesn’t feel great thinking about it. It’s not clear. It’s patchy. And straight away, that kind of fear and panic comes over me. At the time I felt like things were going wrong. And it’s still like that today.” Wright smiles, but it lapses into a prolonged sigh, “Ohhhh, I don’t know if I’ve particularly dealt with what happened that day.”