Little over two years ago, Archie Goodburn’s world fell apart.
The Scottish 50m breaststroke record holder was dreaming of the Paris Olympics when he checked his phone at the end of another gruelling pool session.
His training had been hindered a little in recent weeks by some odd issues. Seizures. Numbness on his left side. A feeling of deja-vu.
Test had been done and his scan results were due. So when he dried off and saw a missed call on his phone, he called back. The news that followed was devastating.
Goodburn was told he had brain cancer. He was 22 years old.
Further investigation, including biopsy surgery, revealed three ‘low grade’ tumours. Inoperable and unable to be removed given how they had spread through his brain.
The reality, he was told, was that he might not see his 40s.
So when Goodburn – now 25 – walked out to perhaps the loudest ovation of the week at Tollcross on Monday to compete in a Commonwealth Games final, a malestrom of emotions must have been coursing though him.
After qualifying on Sunday, tears fell. The magnitude of what had happened, of what he is doing, hit home. But by the time he stepped on the blocks for the final, the competitor had returned.
“Last night, I was so overcome to have achieved that primary goal of making the final. Then over the next 24 hours, you look for more,” he told BBC Sport Scotland.
