It’s 1982 and a Brisbane dad carries his nine-year-old son through the doors of an Indooroopilly indoor pool. The boy has walked through a glass door, his body shredded, he can’t walk and needs 85 stitches to sew him back together. Father and son meet a swim coach called John Carew. None of them knew it, but it was an encounter that changed the course of Australian sports history. The boy’s name, Kieren Perkins. The Road to Paris Podcast is brought to you by Woolworths, Toyota and NRMA Insurance. Produced by 9Podcasts in partnership with Wide World of Sports for the Nine Network Australia, your home of the 2024 Paris Olympics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.