For most people the idea of competing in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship is a mere pipe dream, but Pieter du Preez – a C6 quadriplegic – will take on the challenge using only his wrists, biceps and shoulders.
Du Preez, from Johannesburg, said the weekend’s race was also an opportunity to inspire physically limited athletics to break boundaries.
Du Preez, 38, lost the function of his limbs after he was hit by a car while cycling in 2003, but quadriplegia has neither impaired his passion for athletics nor stopped him from breaking multiple records in the sports arena.
On Thursday, he said: “I’m a man of faith. I believe I was meant to be a quad, so I never stopped.
“I started playing wheelchair rugby while in rehab and started doing sport as soon as I could because I realised that the sooner I started the stronger I would get.
“I’m fortunate that I was a physical guy who loved sports even before the accident.
“I have never looked back and I never asked questions about why it happened.
“I’m still running, just in a different way.”
The triathlete was partly inspired to rise above his circumstance by his longtime coach, Port Elizabeth’s Raynard Tissink, who constantly showed him videos of a paraplegic competing in Ironman.
Tissink is a retired international Ironman champion with more than 30 finishes, four top 10 finishes and eight wins.
Du Preez cycles, swims and races (runs) using only his wrists, biceps and shoulders.
His first Ironman was in 2013 when he finished in 6 hours and 36 minutes, his fastest race on record.
This weekend, he is gunning for 6hr 30min.
Among his many achievements, the four-time hand bike world champion broke the 10,000m world record in the racing chair in 2015.