“What a day. Ironman Hawaii is no joke,” Chris Nikic wrote on Instagram after taking on Ironman 70.3 Hawaii yesterday. The athlete with Down syndrome finished his first Long Distance at Ironman Florida in 2020 and has his eyes now set on another huge goal: competing at the Ironman World Championship in Kona later this year. Every day he puts in all the hard work to get “1% better” – his motto – and this weekend he finally got to test himself again. By racing Ironman 70.3 Hawaii, Nikic got his first taste of the triathlon island’s magic.
It was a hard day in the office, though. The swim was hard, Nikic writes on Instagram. And it didn’t stop there. “40 mph cross winds…hot and humid”, Nikic continues. “I missed my bike cutoff by seven minutes.” But he didn’t let any of that stop him. “Finished the day in nine hours and eleven minutes. We didn’t finish in time, but we learned how to prepare for the World Championship in October. Mission accomplished. We will be back faster and stronger.”
