Dominique Benassi is a young 46 years old and lives in Corsica, where he is a member of the Corsica triathlon club. His personal story here begins at the age of 27 when he lost his leg as a result of a street fight.

To restore the spirit(and physical challenge) of the fire department where he worked, he decided to try triathlon, but at first he wasn't accepted because of his handicap. He started racing in parallel to the official athletes, swimming beside the others, having his bike in the park(not the bike stand) and running with his two canes!

From 1993 to 2007 Dominique won 8 world championship titles from Mexico to New Zealand in the disabled category of triathlon, duathlon and quadrathlon. Dominique Benassi has documented his life in these sports with each race included as a page of his personal book .

 It's his life, unique and wonderful and it belongs to him. He doesn't owe it to anyone or even to his country who took a long time before recognizing him(1999 gold medal of the "young and sports" ministry).

Whatever, he just wants to be himself, meaning being different and confirm this difference even in the indifference of the others.  The faith in himself, that's the path he's following, swimming, biking and running.

Some comments made by Dominique Benassi on completion of this Monaco 70.3 ironman are as follows:

-Swim; "the Australian way out of the water is not unpleasant, the only thing uncomfortable is the canes which sink in the sand but that's part of the game ! "

- Bike; "despite a fall because of a little collision with another biker, I enjoyed the journey and scenery very much even if the passes were very tough"

-Run; "very hard on the Princesse Grace, part from the port up to the Casino . Very difficult with the wheel chair which is not very moveable".  

"I thank all the organisation team and  the referees for the good care they took of me and the volunteers for the time they gave". 

Below is a mix of images which give a good feeling of the whole spirit of this event.

Going by the winning times tabled below and the images displayed, this is one tough course to conquer. Doing with a disability as in the above story is more remarkable when this is considered.

Contemplation of the day ahead.

Mens Pros

Womans Pros

A bit of encouragement is always useful.

Great stuff. This looks a hill climb worth celebrating.

Post race nourishment is always a good reward.

The End.