Stan’s journey to Paralympics cut short

FAIRLAND – Resident, Stan Andrews explains his life journey which got him close to the Paralympics.

August 22, 2016

Amy Ingram 2 minutes read

Four years ago, Stan Andrews weighed about 100kg, smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol and was not active. This year, he narrowly missed his chance to participate in the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Andrews was born with a deformed right foot and underdeveloped leg, which he says has never been an obstacle in his life as he has always received care through a medical aid.

Andrews’ journey started while he was sitting with a beer and a cigarette in hand, and he thought, “What if there is more to life?”. He turned to Google, and simply typed in, “Where to from here?”.

Andrews gave all the motivational posts Google provided the benefit of the doubt and decided to set three goals under the categories small, medium, and impossible. “Many people do not understand the power of words. From the experiences I have had, I believe in the power of words,” Andrews said.

The small goal was to complete the Midmar Mile. The medium goal was to complete the 947 Cycle Challenge, as from a child he had loved to cycle, and the impossible goal was to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Andrews took the first step towards his goal when he entered a 947 competition where he submitted his wish to climb Kilimanjaro and won the competition. Between 18 and 23 September 2012, Andrews successfully climbed Kilimanjaro with his best friend, Richard Cimardi and his prosthetist, Marco du Plooy.

After Kilimanjaro, Andrews was under pressure to complete the other two goals. He was sponsored a bicycle for the 947 challenge and then swam the Midmar Mile in February of the next year.

Andrew wanted to complete more athletic feats, when he met an American para-triathlon athlete. Andrews returned to Google to find out more and decided to take on the IronMan South Africa triathlon. Andrews admits that the event was extremely tough and that he was exhausted by the end of the first leg of the race.

Here, Andrews met Kevin Garwood, who has run several IronMan triathlons with his son who has cerebral palsy. Garwood told Andrews that he should aim for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Since then, Andrews came second in the African Continental Championships in 2014, which he won along with the South African Championships in 2015, making him the fastest para-triathlon athlete in Africa. Last year, he participated in the test event where he came 15th and was not selected to go to Rio. Andrews retained his other titles this year.

“I am sad that I did not make it to the Paralympics but I know many of the guys participating and I will be rooting for them. In an event we are competitive but we are friends at the end of the day,” Andrews added.