Aditya Choudhary is an Indian athlete who became the world’s youngest Ironman in 2019.
Wiki/Biography
Aditya Choudhary was born on Friday, 7 December 2001 (age 20 years; as of 2021) in Mumbai. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He did his schooling at Balmohan Vidyamandir, Mumbai. He is a student of Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics, NMIMS. Since childhood, he actively started swimming, playing Tabla, and practicing judo.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 8″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father, Vikram Choudhary, is an athlete. He has a sister.
Career
Though Aditya has been practicing swimming since he was 4, his journey began in 2013 when he met a person named Nayan Shah whose name is in the Limca Book of Records for being the first Indian male above 50 to become an Ironman. In an interview, Aditya revealed,
In 2013, I met Mr. Nayan Shah, who was the first Indian above fifty to complete an Ironman. When I heard this I was awestruck! The legal age of competing in an Ironman Triathlon is eighteen years. I knew my eighteenth birthday would come on a Saturday and there would most certainly be an Ironman which I could attempt somewhere in the world, thus I began training.”
The minimum age criteria to participate in the triathlon is 18 years. Aditya turned 18 on the day of the triathlon in 2019 i.e., on 7 December 2019, becoming the world’s youngest Ironman. The triathlon was held in Bahrain, and Aditya took 6 hours, 5 minutes, and 4 seconds to complete the event. He was trained by Dr. Mihir Patki, who is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine doctor. He was facilitated by the Indian politician Suresh Prabhu.
Aditya Choudhary,on his18th bday,became youngest 70.3 ironman in the #Bahrain Ironman 70.3 He finished 2km swim, 90km cycle and 23km run in 6hrs 5min Happy to have Felicitated him with his parents and mentor Dr Mihir Patki.Glad I could facilitate his participation in the event pic.twitter.com/sNH6fLctsn
— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) February 17, 2020
After establishing himself as the world’s youngest Ironman, he expressed his feelings in an interview and said,
The moment I finished, tears were flowing- this was the most precious moment in my life! Every time I got tired or cold due to the swim or my muscles felt as if they were on fire, I could only recollect the hard work that went into training for this day, for the past 6 years. Besides, I wanted to achieve this for our country”
He has also participated in various long-distance cycling events including cycling from Mumbai to Lonavala, Igatpuri, Pratapgarh, and Amby Valley. In January 2014, he completed the standard chartered marathon with his father.
Achievement
He established himself as the world’s youngest Ironman in 2019.
Facts/Trivia
- Aditya had to undergo 3 surgeries. His first surgery was when he was merely 5 years old. He had certain ENT issues due to which a tube was put in his ear, and he was advised not to swim by the doctor. In 2012, he had another surgery in which his tonsils were also removed. In 2021, he underwent his third surgery to get some blockage cleared from his nasal passages.
- During childhood, he joined Judo; however, his ENT issues led to some changes in his facial structure, and he had to get braces after which he wasn’t allowed to play Judo.
- A few months before the Ironman triathlon, Aditya got chickenpox following which he stopped training for a few weeks. After recovering from chickenpox, he decided to move to his college hostel to save the commute time and invest that time in training for the event.
- Aditya’s coach, Dr. Mihir Patki, who is an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine doctor, got inspired by him and said,
Aditya, with his commitment and resilience, has now inspired me to take part in Ironman coming up in Melbourne in 2020”
- He aims to cycle on the Khardung La pass, which is considered the highest motorable mountain pass in the world, and target the Everest basecamp next.
- According to Aditya, he wishes to transition into a vegan lifestyle.