He may have spent his entire life in a wheelchair, but that hasn't stopped Peder Mondrup from finishing the 16-hour Ironman contest in Copenhagen.
Peder became the first man with cerebral palsy to finish the Ironman triathlon race, thanks to his twin brother, Steen. Steen put his brother on a raft and swam 2.4 miles. He then cycled 112 miles on a bike with a running wheelchair attached. In the final leg, Steen ran a marathon – 26.2 miles – while pushing Peder in a wheelchair straight to the finish line.
The 34-year-old Danish twins, known as "Team Tvilling" (Team Twin), have been tackling athletic competitions together for the past year, when Steen decided to run a half-marathon with his brother. Videographer Brian Martin Rasmussen tagged along to film the brothers' inspiring race. When the twins were born three months premature in 1980, a lack of oxygen to Peder's brain caused the cerebral palsy. He has been in a wheelchair since the age of two.
Throughout the years, Peder has been an outspoken advocate for the disabled participating in activities. They took part in the race, which they described as the biggest challenge of their lives, to prove that disabled people are not limited and to help raise awareness for people in wheelchairs. According to The Daily Mirror, the twins wrote on their website "As we have always said, Steen got the legs and Peder got the brains, so we are the perfect combination for an athlete with iron will.”
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