Indomitable one-limbed Spaniard wins third track world, next target Paris

GLASGOW : When Spain's Ricardo Ten Argiles was eight years old he touched a high-voltage power line and was electrocuted, suffering injuries so horrific that he had to have both his arms and one leg amputated.

On Monday, at the age of 47, he won his third para track cycling world title, obliterating the rest of the field in the C1 scratch race, averaging 44kph over 60 circuits of the Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.

But that is only half of his inspirational story.

Ten, who hails from Valencia, is writing a second chapter to a remarkable tale of sporting endeavour in the face of adversity.

Before taking up cycling, he was already a three-time Paralympic gold medallist in swimming having made his debut at Atlanta in 1996 and owns three world titles in para swimming.

Now he has his sights set on adding to his haul of gold medals at next year's Paris Paralympics, a feat he says would be 'insane'. So what made him switch from swimming to cycling?

"I always try to keep my motivation very high and I was competing for 21 years at a high level in Paralympic swimming, five Paralympic Games, I always loved competition very much," he told Reuters after his winning ride.

"In Rio 2016 I changed to cycling because it was a goal again that kept my motivation very high because I keep progressing every season. Not like in swimming where every year I was stuck and struggling to keep my best marks.

"The truth is, the style of training is very similar. You need to use different muscles but it didn't take much effort to swap from swimming pool to the bike."

Ten, who took years to recover from his injuries, has used a specially designed bike since switching seven years ago.

It has handlebars that are moulded to fit his stumps while his prosthetic left