Ironman Renames Physically Challenged Division to Para Open — Triathlete

David Whelan had always wanted to become a triathlete. It was a goal he set for himself during his darkest days, when his body was beset by crippling nerve pain. After a work-related accident in 2012 that crushed his foot, he underwent multiple surgeries to help alleviate the incessant pain, but to no avail. After being diagnosed with a chronic nerve condition known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), doctors told him that amputating his foot could lead to him being 98% pain free.

He took their advice, only for the nerve condition to spread even more aggressively throughout his body post-surgery. The helplessness he felt at that point, he says, “was unlike anything I can describe.”

But he didn’t give up or give in. Instead, he held onto two things he knew he could control: fitness and nutrition. “I made the decision to make fitness a priority. I was determined to make friends with my pain and to use it as fuel.”

Finding purpose in the pain

After teaching himself to walk and run again, he ultimately found the sport he’d always wanted to become a part of: triathlon. “My goal has always been to be a triathlete and to inspire others to turn their pain into their fuel,” he says.

Now he’s not only accomplished that (his first full-distance tri was Norseman in 2024, and he’s raced 10 70.3s since 2023), but he’s achieved something even greater — he’s helped bring fundamental change to Ironman for paratriathletes.

A long-overdue shift

Earlier this year, Ironman announced it changed the name of its Physically Challenged/Intellectual Disability (PC/ID) division to Para Open (with Para standing for Parallel). The corporation said the change was “less about the previous name being inadequate and more about evolving the division as part of a broader, long-term framework.”

The designation, now an inclusive category for athletes who require racing accommodations, welcomes athletes with medically verified visual, physical, or neurological impairments, intellectual impairments, and Special Teams (such as visually-impaired athletes racing with a guide, or wheelchair teams).

The change came about after a paratriathlete contacted them about a year ago, frustrated by what the old name said – and didn’t say – about the athletes racing under it. The athlete? David Whelan.

“It [the PC/ID name] didn’t promote a sense of equality,” Whelan says. “It didn’t promote a sense of equity. And that was also kind of made clear by not being able to have the opportunity to race for a world championship title, or go to a world championship based off of performance. The only way I would be able to go, currently, to world championship races is through the lottery system.”

So he contacted Ironman, and what started as an initial inquiry led to him becoming the founder of a working group made up of para athletes, guides, and Ironman staff. The working group’s first achievement has been the Para name change, but it is clear this is just the beginning.

For many, the name change by Ironman is a case of better late than never. The “Physically Challenged” label stems from euphemistic language of the 1980s and 1990s that has since been shelved by governing bodies because it categorizes athletes by deficit. It described what they had lost or lacked, rather than all they were achieving.

Defining “para”

Instead, the word “para” is far more inclusive, its root from the Greek pará meaning beside, alongside, parallel to. It is, of course, the same prefix used for the Paralympics — a word that does not mean “lesser Olympics.” The Paralympics exist in an identical, high-performance orbit right alongside the Games: in the same city, at the same venues, with the same hard work, talent, and commitment needed to get there.

World Triathlon and national governing bodies like USA Triathlon and British Triathlon adopted this parallel language long ago. “Many countries have already acknowledged para as being the proper vernacular in terms of what creates equality for these athletes,” Whelan says. “We are parallel to our non-disabled counterparts. This creates the opportunity for an equal-level conversation and playing field.”

Yet for Whelan and the working group, the name change was never the end goal.

The path to equality

Nate Zarlengo is a three-time Kona qualifier who races as part of an elite age-group team. As much as he loved his time preparing for and racing on the Big Island, he says the selfish nature of the sport left him looking for something more. When an opportunity arose to guide visually impaired athlete Adrian Broca at Ironman California in 2022, he jumped at the chance. The pair won the then-called PC/ID division at that first race together and have since raced together at 70.3 Oceanside (2024) and 70.3 St. George (2025). He first connected with Whelan via Instagram and the pair became fast friends, with Zarlengo joining the working group because he feels passionate about making the sport better.

Of the Para name change, he says: “It’s a huge step, and it’s such a long time coming. I think it’s definitely more inclusive. We put out a bunch of different ideas, brainstorming how we should name it. It will represent a lot.”

He is quick to say, too, that the bigger battles lie ahead, particularly when it comes to classification and qualification processes. He cites the Olympics and many of the major marathons that have far more structure in place for para athletes to have equal opportunities, both from a participation and competitive standpoint: “Why haven’t they [Ironman] come up to speed with where the world is, and with how this group [of athletes] needs to be represented?”

It is this that continues to fuel Whelan and the working group, which now meets with Ironman once or twice a month.

“I believe in Ironman’s ethos — they obviously truly believe that anything is possible, and they do an incredible job at celebrating the athletes,” Whelan says. “I really wanted to hone in on that ethos, so I have brought up to them all the different developments that are coming and that are here within para sports, and how this is a great time to revisit the conversation on creating competitive categories for para athletes, so we would be able to celebrate them not just on the start line, but equally on the finish line as well.”

He says it is about being able to honor the commitment that these athletes make, and allow everyone the opportunity to eventually earn world championship titles.

While he recognizes that classifications and world championship qualification for all para triathletes could take time, he acknowledges that “we are definitely headed in the right direction.”

He says: “The conversation is being had. There’s a lot of back-end work with this; I completely understand and acknowledge that I can’t have a conversation and expect change to happen right away.

“If we were to have the para category go to Kona this year, we would need a depth of athletes to be able to go there. If I’m going to call myself a world champion, if I go to Kona and I race for a world championship title, I need to race against more than just two or three people, right?”

Looking toward the future of paratriathlon

In the meantime, what drives him is the same thing that carried him through his darkest days: community, and the people still waiting to find theirs.

“I truly believe that we’re communal beings, and we thrive in a sense of community — and what better community to surround yourself with than competitive people that look like you and are going through some of the same challenges you are, but that are still showing up to the start lines and giving it all they’ve got.

“For me, I look at it through the lens of wanting to inspire the young person who has a physical disability themselves, who doesn’t think that being a world champion is possible because it’s meant for people who look different from them. This is really for the next generation, to show that truly anything really is possible, and that finish line is only reserved for those who are willing to chase it.”

That, ultimately, is what this new name represents: whoever you are and whatever you do, if you’re willing to train for it, then the finish line belongs to you, too.