North American Chris Nikic, 21, has joined the Guinness World Book as the first person with Down syndrome to complete the Ironman triathlon.  The Ironman is a competition in which participants swim, cycle, and run. At this year’s event, held on November 7th in Florida, in the United States, competitors swam 3.4 kilometres in the Gulf of Mexico, cycled 180 kilometres through the city of Panama Beach, and ran a marathon (42 kilometres).

According to the rules, the participants had to complete the entire journey in no more than17 hours. Nikic finished it in 16 hours and 46 minutes. “Goal set and achieved”, he wrote on Instagram. “Time to set a new and even bigger goal for 2021. Whatever it is, the strategy is the same. 1% better every day.”

Nikic started participating in triathlon competitions at 16. For two years, however, he had to stop because of ear surgeries. When he went back to training, he could hardly run 100 metres or swim in the pool for a long time. Still, he persisted until he began to improve his performance. He said that he went from being unable to do almost anything to participating in an official triathlon competition.

Distances in the Ironman triathlon

– Swimming 3.4 km: approximately the length taken up by 60 Olympic pools when lined up.

– Cycling 180 kilometres: almost twice the distance between the cities of São Paulo and Campinas.

– Marathon: more than twice the length of Barra da Tijuca, the longest beach in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Sources: BBC, Guinness World Records, Instagram, and Chris Nikic’s official website

Questions

1) How long did it take Nikic to complete the competition?
a) 18 hours and 50 minutes
b) 16 hours and 23 minutes
c) 17 hours
d) 16 hours and 46 minutes

2) Could you compete in a race like the Ironman triathlon? Why?

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