“Doing What We Love Together’: Man with Cerebral Palsy to Compete in Ironman World Championship with Dad

An athlete in Rockford, Michigan, is inspiring others while training for the 2024 Ironman Championship in Kona, Hawaii, with a special teammate.

When Johnny Agar was told he was welcome to participate in the much-anticipated event, he could not contain his joy, MLive.com reported Sunday.

“TeamAgar is going back to Kona in 2024. Those are words that I have been waiting to say for the past 7 years and I will never be tired of saying it,” Agar wrote in a social media post June 19:

Another person ecstatic about the news was his teammate, who is also his beloved father. Although Jeff Agar was not a runner, when he and his son began taking part in races they loved it and have continued to train, despite the fact Johnny was born with cerebral palsy.

According to the Mayo Clinic, cerebral palsy affects a person’s movement, muscle tone, and posture.

Video footage from 2017 shows Jeff Agar swimming while towing Johnny in a boat behind him, and Johnny said at the time, “We’re just doing what we love together as father and son competing in sports. When you can do that with your father, I mean, that’s a dream come true.”

Johnny has always been a sports fanatic and studied sports management in college where he enjoyed being around inspirational athletes.

The Agar family has participated in multiple half-triathlons and in 2016 were asked to do an Ironman and be part of the Ironman World Championships that year.

The teammates were unable to finish the triathlon at the time, but now they have another opportunity in 2024 to show the world anything is possible with hard work.

“I’m not doing it because I love it. It wasn’t like a dream of mine. This is Johnny’s dream. I’m just giving him the legs and the power to do it,” his father said during an interview in November:

In 2022, the pair finished on their sixth try to complete a full Ironman triathlon in Maryland, and Johnny even walked across the finish line.

The young man told MLive.com, “I’ve always thanked my dad for how much he inspires me and how hard he works to get me across the finish line. But you can tell a person thank you so many times, and until you put your words into action, it doesn’t mean anything.”

“What makes it more meaningful? If you put your words in action, and that‘s what I try to do every day,” Johnny added.