The Florida sky had grown dark, and Chris Nikic felt ready to quit. He had been pushing through the grueling race for more than 13 hours, even though he couldn’t navigate the course or keep the time without help.
It suddenly became too much. In the hot, humid air, he struggled to breathe. His feet burned as they pounded the pavement, his legs felt like concrete, and it seemed as if the muscles in his back had been put through a shredder.
Nikic, a 21-year-old who lives with his parents in an Orlando suburb, had started the day with determination. If he could overcome the challenge of this race—a 2.4-mile open-water swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run—and do it under 17 hours, he would be the first competitor with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon.
Such a feat would not just put him in the record books. It would also prove to him and to those around him that he could, in fact, do big things. And if he could do big things, then maybe one day he would be able to fulfill his ultimate dream: to live independently and have a wife and a family of his own.
The Florida sky had grown dark, and Chris Nikic felt ready to quit. He had been pushing through the race for more than 13 hours. He couldn’t navigate the course or keep the time without help. It was all exhausting, but he kept going.
It suddenly became too much. In the hot, humid air, he struggled to breathe. His feet burned as they hit the pavement. His legs were stiff like concrete. And the muscles in his back felt like they had been put through a shredder.
Nikic had started the day with determination. This race included a 2.4-mile open-water swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. The 21-year-old competitor saw it as a challenge. And if he did it all under 17 hours, he would be the first person with Down syndrome to complete an Ironman triathlon.
If he was successful, it would put him in the record books. Beyond that, it would prove to him and to those around him that he could, in fact, do big things. And if he could do big things, then maybe one day he would be able to fulfill his ultimate dream: to live independently and have a wife and a family of his own.