Aaron Scheidies and Scott Rigsby are different from most Americans. They enjoy challenging themselves beyond their physical limits, pushing past the point of pain and exhaustion, and going well beyond where the average man would throw in the towel.
You see, Scheidies and Rigsby are triathletes. Oh, and it just so happens that Scheidies is blind and Rigsby is a double leg amputee, but that hasn’t stopped either of these triathletes from blasting misconceptions and naysayers and vaulting themselves into the record books.
Ironically, just hours apart on Sunday, Oct. 14, they each accomplished a rare feat that has set themselves apart from other physically challenged athletes.
Scheidies, 25, of Kent, Wash., became the first physically challenged athlete to break two hours in an Olympic distance triathlon, while Rigsby became the first double leg amputee to complete an Ironman event on prosthetics.
Competing at the Toyota U.S. Open Dallas Triathlon, Scheidies finished the 1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run in 1:59:41, a time that would have placed him among the race’s top-10 in the elite age group category. Scheidies, a three-time world champion, was guided by current age group world and national champion Ben Collins.
Thousands of miles away, Rigsby chose the ultimate Ironman event to set his mark, finishing the Ford Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, in 16:42:46. The 39-year-old from Atlanta, Ga., had previously become the first double leg amputee to complete an Olympic distance triathlon and a half Ironman.
Find out more about these inspiring athletes:
Aaron Scheidies | Scott Rigsby