Chris Nikic

Chris Nikic is an American amateur triathlete who grew up in Florida and was born on October 6, 1999. In 2020, at the age of 21, he became the first person with Down syndrome to finish an Ironman triathlon, completing Ironman Florida in 16 hours 46 minutes 9 seconds, about 14 minutes inside the cut-off time. He bettered that result two years later at the 2022 Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, finishing in 16 hours 31 minutes and becoming the only person with Down syndrome to complete two Ironman races. His achievement earned recognition from Guinness World Records, the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2021 ESPY Awards and the ESPY for Best Athlete with a Disability in Men's Sports. He trained for about a year with Dan Grieb, an experienced Ironman finisher, and the Special Olympics named him a Champion Ambassador.