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Zanardi Ready for His Triathlon Challenge in Hawaii

Next Saturday, living legend Alessandro Zanardi will be taking on one of the biggest challenges of his life: his first long-distance triathlon. Held in Hawaii on Saturday, October 11th, this will be equally a battle of will and physical training.
Alessandro Zanardi 1 photo
Photo: BMW
The three challenges waiting for the Italian driver include a 3.86 kilometer (2.4 miles) swim in the open ocean, a cycling section of no less than 180.2 kilometers (112 miles) and a full marathon course comprised of 42.195 kilometers (26 miles) of excruciating pain.

Since Alex had both his legs amputated after his terrible car crash back in 2001 he now has to compete using a special bike. That also means he’ll have to cover the entire distance using solely his arms.

However, if there’s one man that can do it, it’s him. Zanardi proved his worth over and over again winning two Paralympic gold metals at the 2012 London Olympics and four world championship titles.

This time though, part of the contest will be taking place in the water and Alex won’t be able to use his bike there. For these purposes, the organizers allowed him to use a special wet west to help him keep his body in the right position. As for the marathon portion of the triathlon, an Olympic wheelchair will be used, to be on par with the other contestants.

Speaking about the upcoming event, Alex had this to say: “I have never done anything like this before, so from a certain point of view it will be something completely new for me. If I had done a triathlon before I would know what to expect. From a technical point of view, I know that I can reach the end; otherwise I would not do this.”

“It is not just about swimming four kilometres in a certain time, cycle the distance in a certain time or doing a marathon with the Olympic wheelchair. To do these three things combined is, of course, much harder,” he added.

Over the past weeks, the Italian prepared for this event by focusing more on endurance rather than performance in his usual training sessions. Furthermore, he also developed his technical equipment to be better suited for the task. Well, let’s all wish him well as this surely won’t be easy!
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