India's Niket Dalal becomes first blind athlete to finish Ironman 70.3 Triathlon

NEW DELHI: A speech therapist by profession, India's Niket Dalal created history on Friday last week when he finished the Ironman Triathlon, thereby becoming the first blind athlete to achieve the feat.
For assistance, the 38-year-old Dalal had Arham Shaikh as his companion. Shaikh's credentials include finishing the 5000 km coast-to-coast cross-country race, the youngest Indian to do so.
Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, which Dalal managed to finish, includes a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bicycle ride and 21.1 km run.The duo took seven hours and 44 minutes to complete the race, which earned them a second-place finish in the physically-disabled category.