Marc Herremans

Nationality - Belgian
Sport – Triathlon
Achievements – Ironman World Champion
Product – Compex mi-SPORT

Determination:
"I never give up!" Marc Herremans' story reads like a novel.
Marc Herremans' story reads like a novel. With highs and lows and a good dose of drama. But what makes this story so extraordinary is the firm conviction of the winner of Ironman to have a happy ending.

At the start of his triathlon career, Marc Herremans was obsessed with the idea of becoming the most all-round athlete in the world. His results in the Hawaii Ironman triathlon in 2001 proved that he was able to achieve his dream. Herremans finished 6th in the hardest race in the world. On 28 January the following year, the drama occurred. Herremans fell during cycle training on the island of Lanzarote and injured his D5 and D6 vertebrae. He found himself paralysed from the lower leg to the chest.
Instead of giving up, Herremans started his second life in a hospital bed. 6 months after his accident, he went back to the start of the IronMan triathlon, but this time in a wheelchair. It was obvious that his return was too soon after his terrible accident. But Herremans continued. In 2004 he finished 3rd in IronMan, in 2005 he finished 2nd and in 2006 he won the title.
"I've still got so many goals" says the winner of IronMan, "but my biggest objective is to walk again. I'm hooked on it and I believe very strongly that one day I will be able to walk again. It is one of the reasons why I keep my body as fit as possible. The other reason is that being in a wheelchair doesn't mean that you have to neglect your body. On the contrary. Compex is the key to a lot of my training. I can only work on my muscles from the chest upwards. But I keep my abdominals, my back and my legs strong. I use Compex several times a day. To avoid atrophy, to keep my blood circulating the parts of my body I can no longer use, but also to optimise the training of the upper part of my body. For me, Compex is pure magic..”