By: ERIKA WELLS
Posted: 7/10/08
The Energizer Bunny may have met its match in a former Bulldog.

University alumnus Scott Rigsby is one of 10 worldwide finalists for the 2008 Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame.

The battery company sponsors the annual contest to honor people with stories of "perseverance, determination and a never-quit attitude," according to the Energizer Web site.

On October 13, 2007, Rigsby became the first double amputee with prosthetics in the world to finish the Ford Ironman World Championship distance triathlon in Hawaii.

Rigsby, then 225 pounds, covered 140.6 miles in 16 hours and 42 minutes.

"I want to let everyone know that you can take your ordinary life and place it in the hands of an extraordinary God to do amazing things and change the world," Rigsby said.

At age 18, Rigsby lost his right leg after being thrown from the back of a truck while working a summer landscaping job and was dragged about 380 feet under a 3-ton trailer.

After having more than 26 surgeries in 10 years, Rigsby decided to have his left leg removed.

However, Rigsby said his story started Christmas 2005.

"I was laying on the floor in the living room on my parents' house very frustrated because I was at the lowest point of my life," Rigsby said. "I survived this catastrophic accident, but I felt like my life had no purpose. So I said this really simple prayer, 'God, if you open up a door for me, then I'll run through it.'"

A few days later, two magazine articles about another amputee triathlete and a soldier who returned to combat with prosthetics inspired Rigsby to compete in the triathlon.

Rigsby said he started training less than two years before the event, although he was not built like a swimmer, cyclist or runner.

"I tell students, athletic teams and even corporations that you have to focus on the things you have going for you when you're faced with overwhelming odds," he said.

Rigsby is writing a book with the help of a ghostwriter that will be released in December. He is also developing a screenplay.

The finalist with the most online votes submitted by the public will receive a $10,000 cash prize and a $5,000 donation to charity in August.

Rigsby said he will donate the money to the Scott Rigsby Foundation, a non-profit organization he founded in 2007 to help physically challenged athletes achieve goals.

Voting ends on July 25 at www.energizer.com/halloffame. © Copyright 2008 The Red and Black

Kevin Mackinnon profiles Energizer Keep Going Hall of Fame nominee Scott Rigsby

Published Friday, June 20, 2008

Ironmanlife: Scott Rigsby Keeps Going and GoingAnything is Possible. Yeah right. Tell me if this is possible: A double amputee completes, in one day, a 2.4 mile swim, a 112-mile bike and a marathon run. Hah, not enough of a challenge. Let's make our double-leg amputee compete in Kona, where he gets to take on the sometimes temperamental Pacific Ocean, enjoy the world's windiest stretch of highway and then finish the day with a run that many acknowledge is run in conditions only a degree short of being a full-fledged sauna. (OK, I don't really have stats to back up my "world's windiest stretch of highway" or "full-fledged sauna" comments, but there are times when it sure feels like it!)

Since you all were either glued to Ironman.com during our coverage last year, or have memorized each scene from the 2007 NBC Ironman show, you know full-well that Scott Rigsby finished the Ford Ironman World Championship last year.
How many athletes do you know who took up sports after they lost their legs? Rigsby lost his right leg when he was 18 after he was dragged almost 400 feet under a trailer. For a decade doctors tried to save his left leg, but eventually Rigsby told them to pass on the 27th

operation and just take his left leg, too. It was time for him to get moving and stop being a professional patient.

There's isn't much that slows this guy down, a fact that has now been picked up by the folks at Energizer. The Energizer Bunny appeared during a talk Rigsby was doing to let him know that he is one of the 10 finalists for the 2008 Energizer "Keep Going" Hall of Fame.

Here's a release that appeared on the Scott Rigsby Foundation website earlier this week:

If you think running a marathon or completing a endurance triathlon to change the world is unthinkable, don't tell Scott Rigsby. The Ironman triathlete, also a double amputee, already holds several world records and doesn't have an end in sight. He just "Keeps Going" and the people at Energizer, like thousands around the world, have been equally inspired by Rigsby, who is one of 10 worldwide finalists for the 2008 Energizer "Keep Going" Hall of Fame.

In the past 18 months, Rigsby set multiple world records for a double amputee and on October 13, 2007, Rigsby became the first double amputee with prosthetics to complete an Ironman distance triathlon at the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. His accomplishments earned him the 2007 Physically Challenged Athlete of the Year Award presented by Competitor Magazine and recognition as one the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame 2008 "Stars of the Year."

At age 18, Rigsby was thrown from a truck while working a summer job and dragged over 380 feet under a three-ton trailer. After losing his right leg, he endured more than 26 surgeries in 10 years before finally deciding to "free" himself from being a professional patient and remove his left leg.

"When I saw the Energizer contest promotion, the "Keep Going" theme seemed to exemplify everything Scott Rigsby represents," said Scott Johnson, Rigsby's manager and lead advisor to the Scott Rigsby Foundation. "His accomplishments are truly phenomenal, and are only surpassed by his personal mission to inspire others to overcome their personal challenges."

Energizer is proud to acknowledge the 10 Energizer® Keep Going® Hall of Fame Finalists for their energetic accomplishments and determination and unstoppable spirit, just like the Energizer Bunny. "We all know people like this – ordinary people with extraordinary stories and unstoppable energy," said Betsy Laako, director of marketing, Energizer. "We are excited to honor these unsung heroes through the Keep Going Hall of Fame."

Rigsby was surprised by the Energizer Bunny while speaking to fifth and sixth grade students at the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. "Knowing how many people lead inspiring lives and how many have overcome so much to keep going, I was honestly surprised I was a finalist," said Rigsby. "The news was even more enjoyable because I was with students and with Ron Clark, founder of the academy. It's an honor to be among this select group of finalists. I am humbled and thankful for the recognition."

Voting started June 12, 2008 and closes on July 25, 2008. The public is invited to vote online at the Energizer Web site at www.energizer.com/halloffame; voting can be cast each day of the voting period. The winner will be announced in August 2008.

Energizer figured out something that we all got to see first hand in Kona last year -- there isn't much that stops this guy. Good luck Scott.

You can reach Kevin Mackinnon at kevin@ironman.com

Press Release

Grovefilms.com Releases New Short Film, Unthinkable: The Scott Rigsby Story

Inspiring Story of Double-amputee Ironman Triathlete
Joey O'Connor, Executive Director. (949) 276-8706, www.grovefilms.com
San Clemente, CA 5/23/2008

Grovefilms.com announced today the release of the short film, Unthinkable: The Scott Rigsby Story. This powerful new short film chronicles the inspiring story of Scott Rigsby, the first double-amputee to complete the Ironman triathlon in Kona, Hawaii in October 2007. In the past two years, Rigsby has set numerous world records as a marathon runner and triathlete.

After suffering the loss of one leg during a near-fatal car accident when he was 18 years old, Rigsby endured 25 operations over a ten-year period before having his second leg amputated, "I decided I didn't want to be a patient anymore." Fitted with prosthetics on both legs, Rigsby suffered years of chronic pain, depression, and drug addiction before becoming a triathlete.

Joey O'Connor, executive director of The Grove Center for the Arts & Media stated, "We are extremely pleased to be able to share Scott's story with the world. His inspiring message of "Do the Unthinkable" shows how one person can overcome unthinkable physical, emotional, and spiritual obstacles. Scott's message needs to be told to schools, corporations, and churches across America." Along with Unthinkable, Grovefilms.com is also offering five inspirational clips with Rigsby speaking on depression, forgiveness, doing the unthinkable, and being honest with God. There is also The Unthinkable Experience: Six Weeks to Changing the World, a small group bible study for churches to challenge their members to do the unthinkable. O'Connor continued, "Scott is all about changing the world and we are privileged to partner with him."

Rigsby was also recently named as a spokesman for disabled children for World Vision. Scott Johnson, Rigsby's business manager stated, "Not only will Scott Rigsby continue to working with wounded veterans, he will also be working with children across the world who have lost limbs to landmines and those who are suffering from traumatic injuries. Scott's message of 'Do the Unthinkable' will encourage many young people and veterans to achieve far more than they ever imagined possible."

Unthinkable: The Scott Rigsby Story, the six minute short film is available for download at www.grovefilms.com and the DVD can be purchased at www.scottrigsby.com

For more information about contacting Scott Rigsby, please call Megan Dods at The Grove Center for the Arts & Media, 949-276-8706

Don't miss the broadcast of this year's race, which airs on NBC at 4:30 PM EST (Check local listings)

You won't want to miss this Saturday--s coverage of the Ford Ironman World Championship on NBC at 4:30 PM EST! (Check local listings for the time in your area.) In addition to the exciting professional race, the show is jam-packed with emotional and inspiring features.


While highlights of the Ford Ironman World Championship first aired on television in 1980 as part of ABC's Wide World of Sports, it wasn--t until 1991 when the broadcast was moved to NBC, that it became a stand-alone program. Since then the 90-minute show has earned more than 40 Emmy nominations, won 14 Emmy awards and received three prestigious CINE Golden Eagle Awards.

Heading into the 2007 Ford Ironman World Championship, much of the pre-race media focused on the anticipated battle between Chris McCormack and his German rivals Normann Stadler and Faris Al-Sultan. For the women, the pre-race hype surrounded the race between defending champion Michellie Jones and six-time winner Natascha Badmann. 2007 also included the emergence a number of Kona "rookies," including the 2006 Ford Ironman 70.3 World Champions Samantha McGlone and Craig Alexander, not to mention Britain's latest Ironman phenom, Chrissie Wellington.

In addition to the exciting racing, features will profile some of the inspirational athletes who took part in this year's race. In 2004 college swim star Brian Boyle was in a car accident that almost took his life. He died eight times on the operating table. Boyle would eventually return to collegiate swimming and, this year, took on the challenge of the Ford Ironman World Championship. Other features include the stories of Scott Rigsby, who arrived in Kona this year dreaming to become the first knee double-amputee to finish the Ironman World Championship, and blind athlete Charlie Plaskon, who competed on behalf of the C-Different Foundation.

The television coverage of the Ford Ironman World Championship has long provided the most visible and inspiring images of the event to the world. Ironman's crowning moment came in 1982 when ABC's cameras captured a scene that would be etched in the minds of millions for years to come. The scene that would come to embody the spirit of Ironman showed a young woman named Julie Moss, physically and mentally spent, drawing on only heart and fortitude to crawl across the finish line. Those images of courage and determination launched Ironman into an international sensation and have kept television viewers riveted to their sets ever since.

For almost three decades, the drama of Ironman Triathlon has captured the attention of millions around the world. Its compelling stories of ordinary people accomplishing the extraordinary move and inspire television viewers of all ages.

Each year, a crew of approximately 40 people cover the 140.6-mile course in spite of logistical and communication challenges. While there is much planning involved, how the race will unfold is never guaranteed. Favorites can drop out early or never become a factor, unknowns can surface and age group athletes may not keep their pace. For the television crew, it's a long grueling day that starts at 3 AM and lasts until 2 AM when everyone finally calls it a day. For Ironman athletes, it all turns into 90 minutes of riveting television.

By Bryan Fazio

— To say Scott Rigsby is an Ironman, is both the unbridled truth and an enormous understatement.

Yes, the former Valdosta State student officially earned the moniker Oct. 13 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, finishing a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon in 16 hours, 42 minutes and 46 seconds.
However, the metal Rigsby should have attached to his name should be something stronger, and more indestructible than iron, perhaps titanium, or more appropriately, some foreign substance that can withstand obscene amounts of torture.
That's exactly what Rigsby did, as he became the first-ever below-the-knee double amputee to finish an Ironman event.
Rigsby overcame a mental breakdown and an allergic reaction leading up to the race. Then, once the race started, he suffered a kick to the eye during the swim portion, tremendous head winds during the cycling portion, and a nearly race-ending fall on the running portion, all on his way to achieving his goal. Oh yeah, Rigsby overcame those obstacles without legs.
"It's kind of feeling like you're working on a project like a carpenter, building something and getting to the end of building a house," Rigsby said. "You're finished, have sweat dripping off you, you have a hammer in hand and a bag of nails. You step back and look at the house, and it's wonderful, because it's finally built. I feel like I built a house God allowed me to build."
The personal trials and tribulations leading up to the world-famous race were nothing compared to how he got to this position. Rigsby was injured in a car accident in 1986, causing him to lose his right leg, and in 1998, he had the left one amputated.
Since 2005, his purpose in life has been to show others with disabilities, especially those in the armed forces that suffered injuries in war, that life goes on after a person is disabled. He decided to become the first double-amputee to complete an Ironman.
He made his first attempt June 24 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, but came up short, due to a cycling crash that fractured vertebrae in his back.
The injury left Rigsby sidelined for a short while, allowing him to train for just 100 days leading up to the Ironman Championship, a race that generally requires about five months to prepare for.
Along with the injury, Rigsby's bills were piling up, as well as the pressure from his parents to concentrate more on his financial situation. He needed all his time to train, and work wouldn't allow him to be physically prepared for the challenge of a lifetime, so he relied on sponsors.
"I had no sponsorship dollars coming in," Rigsby said. "You don't get any sponsorship because you almost win the game."
About six weeks before Rigsby made history, one of those crucial plot points where film directors insert depressing music right before a sunrise scene occurred.
"I remember a critical moment, where I was supposed to do five hours on a bike," Rigsby said. "I got to the point where I had all my stuff together, and was about to walk out the door, but I couldn't walk out the door. I almost had this panic attack, where I put my hand on the door, and couldn't turn the handle."
After sitting with a stare focused on the door, Rigsby drove around in his car, when his training partner Mike Linhart called to check up. The former Army Ranger, told Rigsby to focus on what is right in front of him, and forget about the tasks mounting ahead of him.
"It was some of the best advice I've had in my life," Rigsby said.
That advice carried Rigsby to Hawaii, where he stayed at a bed and breakfast in Puako.
At the bed and breakfast, which granted him a complimentary stay, he would again struggle with continuing.
"During training, I had a miserable experience," Rigsby said. "It just seemed like I was on fire. I couldn't do anything to cool down my body. In the meantime, I'm walking around the house, sweating like crazy, and I can't figure out why I'm breaking out in a rash all over my neck and chest."
It turned out that the owners used a specific detergent that caused him to break out in an allergic reaction.
It took two days for Rigsby to start training again, with the help of Benadryl, just 23 days before the World Championship.
When the day came to put all his training, dreaming and praying on the line, Rigsby woke up at 3:30 a.m., and hit the water hours later with the 1,799 other participants.
Heading into the water, Rigsby had thoughts of finishing, and so did his fellow competitors.
"One of the athletes said, 'You've got to finish this race. If you finish this race, you can change the world. Our military men and women need you,'" Rigsby said. "I got the message loud and clear."
Rigsby made it through 2.4 miles in the Pacific Ocean in 1:28:48, despite getting kicked in the eye 200 meters in.
The switch to the bike went well, and Rigsby was pedaling along when the Hawaiian crosswinds caught him at about 30 miles per hour.
The winds slowed him down to about an 8-mile per hour pace, and finishing the upcoming marathon through the added fatigue looked grim.
Rigsby looked to God, as he has so many times throughout his life, and this time there was no answer.
"Since He was not (responding) to me, I thought what would He tell me if He was," Rigsby said. "He would tell me to control the things that I can control, and not worry about the rest."
Rigsby controlled the cadence of his pedaling, lightening up on the bike's tension, and controlling his heart rate. After he achieved those two strategies, he was back riding at 25 miles per hour, finishing the 112-mile course in 8:19:30.
He then ditched the bike, and attached head lamps to his legs, given to him by a company called Fuel Belt. The lights enabled him to see where he was running, since he could not feel the road with his prosthetic legs.
He was slower on the running portion than usual, due to having to dump sweat out of where his prosthetics met the remainder of his legs every four miles.
At mile 19, Rigsby lost his balance and fell to the ground, landing in the pushup position. If his legs would have touched the ground, the seal on his prosthetics would have been compromised, and the race would have been over without him crossing the finish line.
Instead of his legs hitting the ground, the lights stuck out just far enough that it acted as a buffer, saving the race.
Rigsby then plowed through the greatest pain of his life, finishing the last nine miles 25 percent faster than the previous 17.
"I started thinking about why I was here," Rigsby said. "God gave me a door, and I'm going to run through it."
Rigsby also thought about his older brother, who suffers from mental retardation and cannot run with legs or prosthetics.
"Not finishing was not an option," Rigsby said. "Even if I had to crawl."
Seventeen minutes, 14 seconds before the deadline for finishing the Ironman, Rigsby heard a roar louder than any Georgia Bulldogs game he has ever been to at Sanford Stadium. That roar was for him.
He crossed the finish line, and posed for the crowd, where the Voice of the Ironman, Mike Riley, said the words every triathlete dreams of hearing: "Scott Rigsby, you are an Ironman."
The next day, when Riley asked him how it felt to make history, Rigsby answered, "like Neil Armstrong after a bar fight."
Indeed, the painful part was over. Both the physical pain of the most trying race in the world, and the mental pain of overcoming the loss of two limbs.
Now all of the hard work leads up to building up the Scott Rigsby Foundation, and making his pain ease that of others. Rigsby has gained the attention of media throughout the world, with his story to be broadcast on NBC's telecast of the Ironman World Championship on Dec. 1.
"My goal is to build a legacy," Rigsby said. "My success isn't going to hinge on whether or not I finish one more Ironman or 50 more, but if another double-amputee shows up at a race and is doing this because 'If Scott Rigsby can do it, I can do it.'"

Xtri Interview: Scott Rigsby
By Betsy Delcour
10/26/2007


Scott Rigsby made history on October 13 at the Ford Ironman World Championship when he became the first double amputee to complete the Ironman on prosthetics. When Rigsby was 18, he was riding in the back of a pickup truck that got hit by an 18 wheeler. He was dragged 328 feet before the 18 wheeler came to a stop, resting on his legs. That was in 1986. Fast forward 21 years later and Scott has become a symbol for overcoming obstacles that seem greater than one's self. Xtri recently had the opportunity to sit down with Rigsby, just two days before his historic Ironman. Here's what he had to say…


What was your athletic background before the accident?

I grew up in Southwest Georgia, so sports are a huge part of our life down there. I played High School football, and either played linebacker or middle guard so with those positions, I'm built more like a rugby player. And I played recreationally – basketball, baseball and stuff like that. But I wasn't really a big runner in High School until I graduated, right before my accident. Senior year I started running. We didn't have a swim team at our school. As far as cycling, I owned a bike just like every other kid, but it wasn't a road or mountain bike. So I didn't grow up as a cyclist or a swimmer, I just grew up as a football player.

After your accident, how long did it take you to get your life back together and how did you decide to get into triathlon? Was it gradual, did you start just with running – how did it progress?

When I had my accident I had 8 surgeries in 6 weeks, 17 in a year, so I went off to college in 1987 and from 87-98 I had 25 surgeries. I'd had so many surgeries on the left leg that I wanted to resign from being a professional patient. I'd had so much trouble with the left leg that I wanted to take the left leg off below the knee – it was an elective surgery. So literally, 6 weeks – I'd made the decision early 1997, had to go through a lot of red tape with insurance companies. But June 22, 1998 I had the left leg removed and literally 6 weeks later I was up and running, foot over foot, just like you'll see me running on Saturday.

So I've always been able to run and balance, and my friends or people who would meet me would say "I've never seen anybody run like you. I've never seen anyone have the balance and stability that you have on a set of prosthetics." So, I didn't really know what to do with this kind of gift. Over the course of a couple of years, 2005, I had resumed my life, had a career in communications and decided "hey, I really want to fulfill God's purpose for my life," and I feel like I was designed and felt like I had a purpose, had a plan, but I was frustrated because I just didn't know what that was.

Well, what happened was, in Dec 2005 I was laying in my living room in my parents' house and I had tears streaming down my face because I was so frustrated. I was at the bottom, emotionally I was just empty. Everyone wants to know why they're here, and I just wanted to know why I was here. I prayed a simple prayer saying to God, 'if you open up doors for me to run through them then I will run through them.' And obviously be careful what you pray for, because I've been doing a lot of running, and I'll be doing a lot of running on Saturday! But really what happened was, that I didn't have a choir that came out, and I didn't have this big emotional experience, just a small simple prayer. Within the next two weeks I went into a bookstore and there were 3 magazines lined up – Runner's World, which had Sarah Reinertsen, the first above the knee amputee to finish this race on its cover, and next to it she was on that cover also (Triathlete Magazine) and the next magazine over was Men's Journal, and on the cover it had Maj. Dave Roselle who's a good friend of mine. And I was like 'Wow, Maj. Dave – he's not built like a swimmer or runner, but gosh, look at what he did for our men and women who put themselves in harm's way for our freedom,' and I thought, seeing so many double amputees coming back from the war, I was like 'wow man, this is a way to be able to give back to our military men and women who have sacrificed' – they're athletes before they go into these conflicts, but even if they're injured and lose a limb or more than one limb, they're still athletes. At the core of their being, they're athletes, they want to compete. And I said 'wow, maybe something that I can do is help inspire them and help inspire other people who might have thought that losing a limb is the end of their world.'

Well I didn't own a bike, which is very important in this race since it's the longest part of it! I didn't really know how to swim very well (this is January of '06). But I did know how to run. So I just kept running, and would run longer distances and then finally I got a coach in about Feb of 2006 and really, that coach said "yeah I think I can help you get to where you need to be," and so this coach put me on a training plan.

Since I don't own a bike, we were on a stationary bike for about 2 months. It was ok the first month; after 2months I was going nuts – you can only spin indoors for so long. And then I borrowed a bike – I wanted to try my first triathlon. So April 2006, I borrowed a bike from a guy from church, went down to Panama City and did a little sprint triathlon down there. Swam, biked, ran and finished it and thought 'wow, that's really cool man!' Just like everybody else although they're able-bodied athletes, they talk about how they got addicted after that one triathlon. I pretty much was in the same boat, but logistically, the next 7 weeks I did 6 triathlons (wow!) – just sprint triathlons – but people go "wow, why were you doing that?" And I really wasn't trying to prove a point, I was just trying to figure out the logistics of everything, because logistically having just one prosthesis is difficult, having to change it out, but having two, if you don't know what you're doing, can be an absolute nightmare.

It was difficult at first, but I got the hang of it. And in July 2006 I became the first double amputee to complete an Olympic distance triathlon on prosthetics and I did 3 of those in 6 weeks, actually even made it to Worlds in Switzerland. I represented Team USA. I was the first guy at the World Triathlon Championships to compete on a pair of prosthetics through the swim, bike and run. I'm sure it really freaked all those people out because they had never seen – in the States, we're a little bit more exposed to prosthetics – but in Europe, they were just like "wow, this is awesome!" and so I really felt like 'wow, I'm fulfilling my purpose.'

And so then about 2 months later, October 1st at the South Carolina half iron I was the first double amputee to complete a half Ironman on prosthetics and that qualified me for this race. And coming into 2007, I really wanted to understand the distance of the marathon portion of the Ironman triathlon, so I signed up for the ING Georgia marathon March 25th of this year, and I actually became the first double amputee to compete the marathon on prosthetics. Then from there I went to Ironman Coeur d'Alene (IMCDA) to attempt to become the first double amputee on prosthetics to complete the Ironman. So I made it through the swim in 1:35 in some very rough conditions, then went on the bike. Everything was going great until mile 60 and my chain got caught between the big ring and the little ring, and I flipped over my handlebars at 25 mph and landed on my back and I fractured a vertebra. I didn't know this at the time, I had so much adrenaline going on that I just put my chain back on, rode another 52 miles with a broken back, got on the run, and just sitting down my back was hurting me. On the run every 3 miles I had to stop and adjust my legs and when I would sit down, I literally would think 'I'm not sure if I can finish this thing,' because every time I'd stand back up I'd have excruciating, shooting pains in my back and I didn't know what was going on. So my coach, Carol Sharpless said "hey listen," (she rode up to me on her bike – she knew that I had the bike wreck) and was like, "are you ok?" I told her that my back was killing me, but I was going to continue to go on. I had 3 hours and 14.2 miles to make it. Then she said "we don't want to risk you not being able to come to Kona," (since I had already qualified) so they took me in an ambulance to the hospital, and the doctor said the reason you're in so much pain is because you fractured one of your vertebra. So for THIS race, I'm going to try to keep the rubber on the road, and now I've just got 14.2 more miles to go and I can get it done!


I have a question that I've had watching other challenged athletes with prosthetics – I'm just curious, how do you do it? Is it all quadriceps? I'm just thinking about the bike specifically, pushing up a hill. Watching Sarah Reinertsen on TV, and hearing what she said, that she's doing the whole thing basically with one leg, so how do you do it with two prosthetics?

Well, I think that's the challenge for any double amputee. I don't know any double amputees out there who are very good cyclists. You have to train your muscles to be a very good cyclist, because when you break down an IM, what's the most critical piece for a lot of people – it's really the bike cutoff. So I've really had to work on the cycling piece. My legs are off 4-5 inches below the knee. The way my prosthetics are set up, I don't wear a foot shell over, I don't wear a shoe. My spd's are clipped into my feet, so I'm able to really be part of the bike. And then I have a pin system that really locks me into my cycling feet and it's really hard to describe without actually showing you, but most amputees, especially double amputees, are really just able to push, and that's really it. They get their momentum up by pushing. But I'm able to not only push but pull, from being a football player, I have big legs and a big backside, so to be able to have power – my quads, glutes and hamstrings were already really developed. That's where I get a lot of my power from. IMCDA, I heard, I'm not sure if it's true, had 7800 ft of vertical climbing. I was able to do 52 miles of that with a broken back – I was passing people who were walking their bikes up a lot of the hills. So I don't know – maybe I'm just unique in that area? I mean there ARE better swimmers than I am; I just started learning how to swim in 2006. So there are lots of double amputees who are considered better swimmers. There's a double amputee runner in England, he's a better marathoner – a better runner – than I am. But I don't know another double amputee who's a better cyclist than I am, because I just get focused on developing that piece of the event.


So would you consider running or cycling to be your strength, because it sounds like you're pretty good at both!

If somebody said "how fast do you run a mile?" I couldn't care less how fast I run a mile because I'm never going to run just a mile. I'm looking to run 13 miles, or I'm looking to run 26 miles. But I want to be a good cyclist. Because I don't want to just stop here with this race, I want to do several IM competitions. And again, in the IM race, the challenge for any amputee is going to be the bike cutoff. It's obviously easier to run if you have fresh legs. It's very difficult to get off the bike; I mean my legs feel like 200lbs just like everyone else's legs. It's almost encouraging to see other people walking in an IM, because it's like "wow, my legs are tired!" Well – it's normal. So I would probably say the thing that's lacking is that I'm not as good a swimmer as I could be.
But I feel pretty confident – I've been here 3 weeks, and I've ridden over 300 miles on the course, and actually on the hardest part of the course. So that familiarity with the course gives me a lot of confidence, going into this race. And being able to run - the worst case, I'll have to walk. So I'll just keep moving forward. God willing I'll cross the finish line, just like everybody else, and hopefully open up the door for a lot of other challenged athletes.


Do you have a lot of family out here to support you?

I'm from a big family, I'm the youngest of 7, 17 grandkids, my parents just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary meaning that they're actually in their 80s. And so they weren't able to make the trip out here. But I do have a lot of people out here who are supporting me, my training partner, bike mechanic, physical therapist – people like that. I don't think any physically challenged athlete can get anywhere in this sport without a great support system around them. I get a lot of the limelight, but really the unfortunate thing is that they don't see how so many people have sacrificed for me to get where I am. And so they're really the people that need to get the credit – my support system and the people who made contributions to my success. I wouldn't be here without them.


Do you have any affiliation with CAF, or are there any other organizations that have supported you or help you with costs, equipment, travel, etc.?

I'm actually not a member of CAF. I've been in a couple of races where they were the sponsored charity. But I've never even talked to anyone from CAF until I met somebody who's now a good friend of mine, Bob Babbitt. I can't say enough nice things about Bob Babbitt – he's a great guy, and he's done so much for challenged athletes, he's leaving a great legacy. I think CAF is a great organization, but I don't live in San Diego, I don't live in Boulder – I don't live on the west coast, so I've been one guy doing all this in a short amount of time in the southeast. In the South, if it doesn't have a ball behind it (football, baseball) it's not considered a sport.

So hopefully I can be an ambassador for our sport. I want to encourage not only other physically challenged people to get into this sport, but also couch potatoes, weekend warriors – people who kind of have just given up on themselves to get into an active lifestyle. When I started, I was the only one doing this for a while, and I really wanted to leave a legacy, just like Bob did. Living in GA, I started the Scott Rigsby Foundation (SRF), and the way it works is I'm really trying to break down the barriers between able-bodied athletes and physically challenged athletes in not only multisport events and running events, but the way that my foundation is different is that I view SRF as a hub, and with all these other little spokes are organizations like C-Different. It would be awesome to see an athlete with no feet leading another athlete who's blind. How encouraging would that be?! Hopefully it would bring awareness and people would say "wow, here's this guy with no feet leading a blind athlete – why can't I go out and lead a blind athlete?" So it brings awareness to various organizations like C-Different.

There's also Getting 2 Tri which is a foundation back in Atlanta. And what they do is work with tri clubs around the South and get them to mentor challenged athletes and raise money for wheel chairs or equipment they might need.


The cost of triathlon alone for an able-bodied athlete is so expensive, I can't imagine what it's like when you need all of this special equipment!

I'm very fortunate because I'm sponsored by Freedom Innovations which is the premiere prosthetics co in the world. They are based out of CA, they give me my feet and I give them good feedback. I'm also very fortunate to work with Georgia Tech which has one of the top prosthetic running programs in the world and one of the top prosthetic cycling programs in the world. They do a lot of research to help amputee athletes from all over, and the things they're doing are cutting edge and will revolutionize prosthetics. Seeing more amputees in our sport would be especially gratifying because the better we actually get at doing our sport, the more other amputees are going to be encouraged and say "wow, I would love to compete! I'd love to beat that guy/girl!" The competitive nature is there, whether you're physically challenged or not.


What's your goal for Saturday and what's the first thing you're going to do when the race is done?

Obviously whether I finish in 15 hours or whether I finish in 16:59, God forbid, I still finish, it's still going to be a world record. I'm still going to be the first double amputee to finish an IM on prosthetics. And again, it will open up the door for so many other people to want to do an IM. So really that's my goal – this journey is so much bigger than me. It opens the door for me to get out there, in the general public and say hey listen! Impossibility is just a mindset. We all have hang-ups, we all have challenges. I don't really look at myself as a physically challenged athlete – I look at myself as an athlete who has physical challenges. And we all have physical challenges – some people can't run or bike as fast as they want. We're athletes, and we're trying to reach the goal. My goal has always been to finish the IM, and God willing on Saturday I'm going to cross the line, so that's really the ultimate goal. I have times I want to be certain places, I'm familiar with the land markers on the course. I'd love to do 1:45 on the swim, 7:30-8 hours on the bike and 5:30-5:45 in the marathon. And then there's a lot of fat in there for cushion on the run.

For what I will do after my finish…there's a burger joint right around the corner that has the greasiest food I've ever seen and it looks delicious! I'd love to go get a big milk shake, a big burger and some fries – sorry PETA and all of those who don't eat meat! I have good friends who are vegetarians, but the first thing I want to do is get a burger!

I'm just grateful and so thankful that I have the ability to run the race, and that I've had so many people love and care about me enough to come out here and support me, and I just want to thank them. I'm also very thankful to the Ford Ironman (and WTC) for allowing a lottery here for physically challenged athletes to come out here and compete against able bodied athletes.

IRONMAN TRIATHLON
Double amputee struggles, succeeds
Atlanta's Rigsby pays price for making history

By STEVE HUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/22/07

The Atlanta Ironman kept to his wheelchair this past week. The ends of his amputated legs were blistered, swollen and raw, and showing signs of infection. His muscles felt like they had been doing laps through a pasta maker. The gifts of completing one of the globe's notorious endurance races just kept giving.

A week ago, on the big island of Hawaii, Scott Rigsby, 39, became the first below-the-knee double amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon. That meant swimming 2.4 miles without legs, then biking 112 miles and running a 26.2-mile marathon with prosthetics. He had 17 hours to complete the task. He made it in 16:42:46 — a little close, but that kind of history didn't require much margin.

All this was set in motion when the teenaged Rigsby was injured in a south Georgia truck accident. He would begin exiting a long period of depression and pain through physical exertion. Nearly two years ago, he decided to test himself against some of the hardest races, vowing to compete and complete. He lined up sponsors. He began a foundation aimed at enabling physically challenged athletes. He rounded up the people and the technology to make an audacious idea possible.

One catch. He actually had to do this thing.

"We hate to say it," said Scott Johnson, a friend who is helping organize the Rigsby Foundation, "but if he didn't finish, he'd be just another person out there on prosthetics trying to do the unthinkable and not being able to do it."

Rigsby had tried once and failed to complete an Ironman event in Idaho earlier this year when he crashed during the bike segment. He arrived in Hawaii weighed down by the need for credibility.

In the race program, he was heralded as "The Miracle." Earlier in the week, a wounded veteran approached Rigsby after a practice swim and told him, "You have got to finish this race because you can change the world. Our military men and women need you."

Those were among the thoughts in his head with about seven miles to go in the final, marathon leg as he was on pace to just miss the cut-off time.

"He's not going to make it; he's absolutely not going to make it," Johnson fretted.

That simple prayer Rigsby offered before the event — "God, if you open up a door, I'll run through it" — didn't seem quite so simple now.

Rigsby sailed through the start in the ocean, save for being kicked once in the face. A strong headwind for the last third of the bike course depleted his strength and his wiggle room with the clock. And in the pitch darkness amid some lava fields, he was hitting the infamous "wall." He struggled through that, picking up his pace.

The last three miles, he said, comprised the worst pain he has felt since he had begun competing.

"I started talking to myself: You have three miles to go; if you can just do three miles, you have an opportunity to really change the world. You can have an impact," he said.

When he hit the finish, the sound from the crowd, he said, "was like the loudest SEC game you've ever heard."

"I was thinking: I want to cross the finish line, I'm going to smile at everybody, I'm going to strike a pose, and I want to find the first stretcher I can," Rigsby said.

The accomplishment was

in the bank, and in the what-now stage that follows, Rigsby and his friends are designing ways to draw interest. Rigsby will be featured in the NBC broadcast of the event, to air Dec. 1. In the meantime, he said, there is work to be done in positioning Rigsby, behind his foundation, as a spokesman for physically challenged competitors and the redefining of limits.

When able, Rigsby said he will resume training and plot a schedule of events in 2008.

"There is no beer and chicken wings in my future," he said.

"The legacy of Scott is not whether he does another Ironman or 500 more," said Mike Lenhart, Rigsby's training partner and founder of another organization like his, Getting2Tri.

"[His legacy] is if there are a dozen or so other physically challenged individuals who do a 5K run or do an international distance triathlon or even an
Ironman, and say the reason they did this is because they saw Scott Rigsby do it."

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.


Finally...Macca crosses the finish line first in Kona. Hear candid interviews featuring Chris McCormack at www.competitorradio.com.

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 compete 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.

by Jason Mucher, usatriathlon.org

Rigsby made it!

RACETIME: 17:00

Scott Rigsby just became the first double amputee to finish an Ironman with prosthetics!

IRONMAN LIVE RECAP

Published on Sunday, Oct 14, 2007 at 06:48 AM.

A recap of an unusual day of racing in Kona
There's one thing for sure from this day's coverage: No one could have predicted the events of this day here at the Ford Ironman World Championship.


It was a day that saw some sort of a stomach virus take out both defending champions (Michellie Jones and Normann Stadler), the champion from two years ago (Faris Al-Sultan) and Cameron Brown; a run in with a road cone take out a six-time winner (Natascha Badmann); and a leg injury sideline Luke Bell. Joanna Lawn, for the second year in a row, was sick for much of the day, too.
3812150da9c9b22c061d3412430cb038.jpgThis was a topsy-turvy day right from the start. Only a last minute sprint at the end of the swim allowed Francisco Pantano to get out of the water ahead of Linda Gallo. In fact, Pantano and a number of the men who lead out of the water owe Gallo a huge thanks – if it wasn't for her they wouldn't have enjoyed any sort of lead over the man they wanted to gap into T1, Normann Stadler.

In the end Gallo was just two seconds away from becoming the first woman to lead the way out of the water overall here at the Ford Ironman World Championship after powering to the front and keeping the men honest through the second half of the swim. Instead of her usually quick swim, Michellie Jones wasn't herself either – turns out she had a perforated ear drum from being hit in an open water swim three weeks ago.

Rutger Beke got hit in the face during the swim today – he was pretty much out of commission for the rest of the day.

The craziness continued early in the bike. Normann Stadler looked like he was making a break to the front, then pulled to the side of the road and promptly threw up. Within a few miles he was out of the race.

509b167095cc239c56b31bf33cdb32cd.jpgNatascha Badmann, one of the best cyclists this sport has ever seen, hit a cone and totaled her bike, not to mention her body, early on in the second leg of the day. Michellie Jones was yet another casualty to the throwing up problem at 70 miles.

Things didn't get any more normal out on the run. While we're used to seeing the fast runners pass the fast cyclists here in Kona (unless the fast cyclist's name's initials are NS), we're not used to seeing a Kona rookie fight for the lead, as Craig Alexander did. We're also not used to seeing anyone post a 2:42:02 marathon, as Chris McCormack did today to claim his long coveted first Ironman title.

We're even less used to seeing a woman who has only done one Ironman (7 weeks ago in Korea) and only been involved in the sport for a little over a year not only claim the world title, but run a 2:59:58 marathon to do that.

That said, we're even less used to a complete Ironrookie finishing second, while running a 3:00:52 marathon, as Samantha McGlone did here today.

It's also not completely normal to see a guy who was in such a bad car accident that he died again and again and again, then spent a couple of months in a medically induced coma, not only recover enough to compete as a collegiate swimmer but also complete the Ironman … Brian Boyle managed that feat.

It's especially not normal to see a double amputee finish an Ironman. Way to go Scott Rigsby.

You don't often see a little boy run across the finish line with one of the greatest pros our sport has ever seen, either. Carter, a seven-year-old from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, has cystic fibrosis. Thanks to the Make a Wish foundation, he got the chance to finish today's race with his hero, a fellow CF sufferer who also happens to have won 11 Ironman races in her amazing career – one Lisa Bentley.

While we're used to seeing people use their Ironman efforts to raise money for charity, we're most definitely not used to seeing anyone raise $1.8 million, as Kirsten Kincaid did in honor of a little boy named Matt who died earlier this year.

So what did go according to the norm here at the Ford Ironman World Championship?
Things got back to normal when we saw athletes like Laura Sophiea and Cherie Gruenfeld claim yet another age group world title.

Things got back to normal, too, when the winds picked up and stopped a whole pile of people in their tracks heading up to Hawi, and then again as they rode back along the Queen K.

Things also got back to normal, too, when we saw so many of the 1,788 starters of this race finish the Ironman in impressive times despite the tough heat and wind.

As wacky as this day was, in the end it all returned to normal. We saw so many amazing stories, crowned two very deserving and impressive champions and witnessed a slew of incredible athletic performances.

Yep, another day in Kona … you know, one of the incredible days that make Ironman so special.

Thanks for joining us.