Marc Herremans
“Life’s only limitations are the ones we make – its all in the mind and nothing is impossible!”
Marc Herremans is a Belgian Triathlete who made it to 6th place at the Ironman World Championships in Hawai'i in 2001, after being in this sport for only 3 years. One year later he crashed during a training ride in Lanzarote, leaving him paralyzed for life from his stomach down to his feet.
Yet after a short period of 3 months after the accident, Marc refused to be discouraged and started training for the Ironman World Championships in Hawai'i, this time as a wheelchair athlete. That's how he earned his nickname, "Mad Max", as he never gives up hope and always tries to push his limits to the furthest possible.
He participated in the Ironman World Championships in 2002, only 10 months after his accident. Although he didn't finish first, he participated again every following year, because his ultimate goal was to win Hawai'i. In 2006, he finally succeeded in his goal: he was the first wheelchair athlete to arrive at the finish of the Ironman World Championships in Hawai'i(ironically, he didn't receive any prize money, because wheelchair athletes do not receive prizes).
In 2003, he started a foundation called "To Walk Again" that supports other disabled people, such as making a sports centre for disabled people, and that invests in bone marrow research. To gain more support for his foundation, Marc met disabled celebrities such as Christopher Reeve.
In October 2007, Herremans became the first person to complete the Crocodile Trophy with a hand bike. The Crocodile Trophy is one of the world’s hardest mountain bike races, traversing part on Northern Australia - 1400km in 10 days.
read more about him here
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