Australian war veteran Curtis McGrath has dedicated his Paralympic canoe sprint gold medal to the mates who never returned home from the battlefield.
Eight of his fellow engineer soldiers have died in combat in Afghanistan since 2001, and McGrath remembers them in the moments before every race.
The 28-year-old pocketed the first ever Paralympic title in the men's KL3 canoe sprint at Rio's Lagoa Stadium on Thursday.
McGrath won by a boat length ahead of six-time world champion Markus Swoboda of Austria.
As he crossed the finish line, the double leg amputee slumped in his kayak in a moment of exhaustion, relief, and reflection.
The Kiwi-born reigning world champion said the enormity of what he'd achieved wouldn't sink in until he got home.
"I'll drink some decent coffee and reflect on the wounds that have healed and the people that have helped me get here," he said.
McGrath lost his legs four years ago when he stepped on a landmine while serving as an Australian Army combat engineer in Afghanistan.
Despite fighting shock, blood loss and excruciating pain, it was McGrath, as the first-aid medic for his unit, who instructed the soldiers around him to perform first aid.
As he was being airlifted to safety, the then 24-year-old made a vow to the men who helped save his life that they would see him see him represent his country again, not on the battlefield, but on the Paralympic sporting field.
World championship silver medallist Amanda Reynolds missed out on the top of the podium by 0.03 seconds in the women's debut 200m Sprint KL3.
And Brisbane's Susan Seipel completed Australia's trifecta of para-canoe medals, with bronze in the women's KL2.
One title on the water, two more in it and another on the track propelled Australia to fifth on the medal tally with three days of competition remaining.
In the pool, Australia won back-to-back titles in the women's 4x100m freestyle 34pt relay in world-record time thanks to Maddison Elliott, Ellie Cole, Ashleigh McConnell, and Lakeisha Patterson.
Sydney schoolgirl Tiffany Thomas Kane added a gold medal to her three bronzes by taking out the women's SB6 100m breaststroke title with a Paralympic record.
And fellow debutante Monique Murphy snared silver in the women's S10 400m freestyle.
In athletics, two-time world champion sprinter Scott Reardon took gold in the men's T42 100m with a Paralympic record.
And Ella Pardy, Isis Holt, Jodi Elkington-Jones and Erin Cleaver teamed up to win bronze in the women's T35-38 4x100m relay.
But the women's 4x400m wheelchair team have gone to bed not knowing what colour medal they won after their T54 class final ended in a disqualification controversy that is waiting on appeal.
