'I could barely walk': Glandular fever defied as Aussie sprinter James Turner wins gold, breaks world record

PARIS: Freshly minted Australian Paralympic gold medallist James Turner has revealed he battled glandular fever that left him facing "waves of exhaustion", affected by "delirium" and struggling to walk in the months leading up to the Games.

And the athletics champion not only won gold in the men's T36 400m at the Stade de France on Tuesday, but shattered his own world record in the process.

He also won his third Paralympic gold medal from three Games, following triumphs in the 800m at Rio 2016 and the 400m at Tokyo 2020.

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Turner, a 28-year-old with cerebral palsy, stormed over the finish line in 51.54 seconds, ahead of Kiwi silver medallist William Stedman (52.92) and Argentinian bronze medallist Alexis Sebastian Chavez (53.60).

He described his experience with glandular fever in raw detail and said he surprised himself in breaking the world record after such a gruelling battle, which affected him across May, June and July.

"I'd have waves of exhaustion where I could barely walk, I was stumbling around, a bit of delirium. I obviously wasn't able to train ... As soon as I'd start training I'd get worse, so we had to be really careful and come back really slowly," Turner told reporters.

"... We just had to get through it and do what we could on the day.

"I didn't think I'd be able to break a world record here today. I just thought maybe if I do everything right I can scrape across the line first."

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Turner ran conservatively over the first 200 metres, ticking along in third place, but was quick to establish a sizeable lead after accelerating.

Beyond the finish line, the speedster thrust his arms above his head and roared with unbridled delight.

"It was just amazement that it happened," he said of how he reacted.

"I really wasn't expecting a world record. I didn't think I could do it.

"... It's a brilliant feeling. So much work not just from myself but all the team has gone into this, and to be able to bring it home for them is amazing."

Reflecting on what it was like to oversee Turner's build-up amid his battle with glandular fever, his coach described it as "maybe the hardest in my life".

"It's my medal number 71 and it's the hardest medal because James had glandular [fever] two months ago and I was with him at the training camp," Iryna Dvoskina told Nine's Todd Woodbridge.

"I locked myself with him for two months. Every second day we had a health [meeting] with an AIS [Australian Institute of Sport] doctor. He was guiding me on how I have to build up or back off our training, and I did it precisely. Every single day I was tweaking, changing, looking at his body language, and it just paid off."

Turner is now set for his T36 100m campaign, beginning at 4.22am on Saturday (AEST).

The speed demon from the coastal NSW town of Hallidays Point won silver in the 100m at the Tokyo Paralympics.

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