An eight-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who completed a triathlon unaided was given the Helen Rollason prize at Sunday night’s Sports Personality of the Year awards.
Bailey Matthews completed the Castle Howard children’s event – which included a 100m swim, a 4km bike ride and 1.3km run – and was handed the award for “outstanding achievement in the face of adversity”.
Matthews took the stage to a standing ovation from the audience and joked: “I think you can stop cheering now” before adding that he hoped to finish five more triathlons.
Video footage of Matthews discarding his walking aid to complete the final metres of the triathlon in July has been viewed more than 30m times. In it, Matthews falls a couple of times as he covers the last 20m but picks himself up and carries on as spectators cheer.
He completed the event in about 90 minutes, finishing in last place. But a crowd stayed to cheer him on.
After his appearance at Sunday’s awards show, he was sent messages of support.
Source: here