Griswold came into this final the defending world champion and Rio 2016 bronze medalist. He said it felt amazing to capture gold in his signature event. 

“I’ve been reflecting on it over the last few minutes, and I just had more peace than I’ve ever had before a race,” Griswold said. “I felt peace knowing that I’ve got a family and friends who love me and people who really value me and care about me. I carried that with me, and I’m trying to do the best I can and give back to the people who’ve given so much to me.” 

Griswold said he’s been training his starts intensely in the one-year delay and studying his competitor’s races. He spoke highly of everyone in the final tonight, saying how glad he was that they were all racing together again. 

“In S8, we have a special bond,” Griswold said. “We’re brothers no matter what country you’re from. We all respect each other and value each other’s company. Today we talked about how much we value having each other back and that’s something we missed during our time away because of the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

Griswold especially loved competing alongside his teammate Joey Peppersack, who made his Paralympic debut in Toyko. The pair first met in 2014 and have been competing together since they were teenagers. 

“Joey’s been a brother to me for so long,” Griswold said. “I’ve gotten to see him grow from a young kid into an amazing young man and somebody who I consider as one of my dear closest friends. We have a picture of us with this big group of guys from a meet in 2014. We were looking at it in training camp thinking we were the ones who made it.” 

Peppersack said Robert has been sharing words of wisdom with him for years. After achieving his goal of making it to the finals, Peppersack said his first Games has been incredible so far.  

“This has been my dream for so long and just to finally be able to experience it has been amazing,” Peppersack said. 

According to teamusa.org. Source of photo: internet