Dr. Amir Petrus Dawood
Special Olympics athlete Chris Nikic crossed the finish line on Saturday, November 7 to become the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon.
Guiness World Records recognized Nikic’s achievement after he finished a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-marathon run at the Ironman Florida competition in Panama City Beach.
Ironman. Goal set and achieve,” said Nikic in a post to Instagram. “Time to set a new and Bigger Goal for 2021.”
Nikic completed the race in 16 hours 46 minutes and 9 seconds -- 14 minutes under the 17-hour cutoff time.
Nikic fell off his bike and was attacked by ants at a nutrition stop, but he pushed on to finish the competition, the Special Olympics said in a release.
Nikic and his father Nik developed the “1 percent better challenge” to stay motivated during training. The idea is to promote Down syndrome awareness while achieving 1% improvement each day, according to Nikic’s website.
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