In September last year, the former captain of the Welsh rugby team, Gareth Thomas was forced into revealing that he was HIV-positive by a tabloid newspaper. The next day, he completed an Ironman challenge: a 3.8km swim, followed by a 180km bicycle race, capped off by a full marathon.
HIV-positive athlete Gareth Thomas crosses the finish line of the Ironman triathlon event in Wales, September 2019.
ATHENA PICTURE AGENCY LTD/ALAMY LIVE NEWS
He wanted to challenge the idea that HIV-positive people are “walking around with walking sticks… close to dying” to show that they can, instead, go on to live their lives exactly how they wish. Placed 412th out of 2039 participants, with a time of 12 hours 18 minutes and 29 seconds, there’s no doubt that he succeeded.