PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A 21-year-old Florida man has made history as the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon, which includes a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run in a single day.
The Special Olympics connected Chris Nikic with Ironman competitor Dan Grieb, who helped train him.
Florida race officials required Nikic to be tethered to Grieb in the ocean Saturday for safety reasons. Grieb also rode behind Nikic on the bike course and stayed near him on the run. But Nikic did all the work on his own.
He completed a practice, half-triathlon earlier this year in 8 hours, 25 minutes.
LATEST STORIES:
- 22 Jefferson County residents test positive for COVID-19 Wednesday, 24 recover
- Legislation introduced to provide compensation for essential workers impacted by COVID
- Driver crashes after swerving to miss falling couch, then gets ticketed
- ‘Neanderthal thinking,’ Biden says of ending state mask mandates in Texas, Mississippi
- UPDATE: Man shot dead after firing weapon at law enforcement officials in Abbeville