Nikic granted Kona spot

Chris Nikic has been a bright spot in the triathlon world during a year where there hasn’t been a lot to celebrate. This weekend the 21-year-old who became the first athlete with Down syndrome to finish a full distance race announced on social media that he’s been given an entry to the 2021 Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii next October.

As he did for his first full-distance race at Ironman Florida in November, Nikic will follow his “1% better every day” mantra as he trains to finish the race in Hawaii. As an 18-year-old Nikic’s father Nik urged him to start with a push up and improve on that each and every day. Three years later that one push up had built to a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike and 42.2 km run – Nikic completed Ironman Florida with his guide and coach Dan Grieb in 16:46:09.

One would imagine that as he did for his race in Florida, Nikic will raise funds through the Ironman Foundation through his efforts at the race in Kona – this year he raised money for Down Syndrome, RODS and Special Olympics.

You can find out more about Nikic’s fundraising efforts on his website chrisnikic.com.