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.