In November 2020, Chris Nikic became the first person with Down’s Syndrome to complete the full Ironman triathlon distance. I had followed his progress through the day and cheered out loud from over 4,500 miles away when he finished. It was pretty loud in Florida, but the echo around the world was palpable.

Just recently ESPN made a documentary of what it took for him to complete this. I challenge anyone to watch it without crying at least once…

There are so many great lessons for athletes in here – the link to wider goals in life, the planning and tracking (whiteboard envy), the consistency and focus, the power of love (especially family), the power of laughter, and the power of belief and determination.

As a coach, there is one part that still upsets me. That there was a coach who refused to write a programme to support Chris to progress to iron distance – not for any medical reason, but to save him from potential disappointment!

I have a motto, which I really try to live by: “do not throw cold water on someone else’s schemes, throw instead a lifeline to help them with their dreams”. I am so glad that Chris’s Dad made an impassioned plea to give his son the same chance as other 20 year-olds, and that they found the coach who did.

I want all of us to be that coach – who underpinned the work that Chris did to succeed.

Why wouldn’t every one of us be that coach?

However, I listened a week ago to a wonderful speech by Leela Bassi about her all-female team trek around the Arctic Circle to shine a light on attitudes around Diversity and Inclusion. She shared the experience that some of the hardest barriers to overcome were the ‘rescuers’. In her situation this was the offer of a stretcher and a helicopter ride back to warmth, vs the challenge of carrying on with frostbite to complete the challenge. It made me realise that Chris’s experience was not a one-off, and that many more people may face this every day. And that actually there can be very human pressures that we as coaches can succumb to in leaping in to rescue – when actually we need to take a moment to reflect.

Both of these fabulous athletes left me with the reflection that as coaches, we need to live by Albert Camus’s quote:

“Don’t walk in front of me — I may not follow; 

don’t walk behind — I may not lead; 

walk beside me and just be my friend.”

Whilst we may need to be ready and prepared to affect the rescue (if needed), athletes want to push their limits and we should not wrap them in cotton wool by stepping in as a barrier, even if it is well-meant rescue.