I refused to let horror car crash that took my legs ruin me – now I’m world record holder, says Strictly’s Billy Monger
“BILLY MONGER . . . you are an Ironman.”
Those words are still sinking in for a 25-year-old who has already beaten all odds to become a world-record holder.
That’s a world-record holder in triathlon’s most gruelling event, the Kona Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.
A 2.4-mile swim in jellyfish and shark-infested waters.
A 112-mile bike ride in treacherous crosswinds across volcanic terrain. Then a marathon, 26.2miles of running.
And, in case you hadn’t noticed, Billy is a double-amputee after losing one leg just below the knee and the other above the knee in a shocking Formula 4 racing accident weeks before his 18th birthday.
But his time of 14 hours, 23 minutes and 56 seconds smashed the world record for a double amputee by more than TWO HOURS.
So was that drive always there, or was it his accident that changed him?
Billy, who was raising money for Comic Relief, says: “I remember after my accident being like, ‘I’m the same 17, 18-year-old kid that I always was, wanting to be a Formula One world champion’.
“There’s no getting away from it, that does affect things. You do have to grow up quicker.
“Learning to deal with that adversity all of a sudden, other adversity you face in your life doesn’t seem that daunting.”
So the jellyfish stings suffered on the swim are now something you just brush off?
“Yeah, well, that is what it is really!”
In the brilliant film of his year of training, Billy can even joke with his coaches about sharks not being interested in him as they’d be better off chasing someone with legs.
I don’t think Billy looks at things in a “normal” way, but that’s probably because he’s not normal. And that’s far from an insult and nothing to do with him being an amputee.
He adds: “Because of the accident, I’m more curious about what I’m still capable of.
“I don’t want to go, ‘Oh well, this bad thing happened to me, so I’m just gonna feel negative about it’.
‘About to pass out’
“If I did that, it’s quite obvious what my life would look like and I didn’t really fancy a piece of that.”
Instead, he fancied a piece of Hawaii — not grass-skirts and sunshine but 14-plus hours of endurance racing.
He says: “It’s seen to be the hardest Ironman, so looking back, I was a bit nuts for signing up.”
Because of the accident, I’m more curious about what I’m still capable of
Billy
He had done only “a bit of doggy-paddle for rehab” and had not run more than 5km without pain before the training started.
It is normally a four-year plan for an Ironman. Billy did it in one.
His journey before is just as remarkable.
Billy had been on the road to F1 as a prodigiously talented and dedicated karting racer before the horror crash at Donington Park in 2017.
But since then he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special, BBC’s Race Across The World and covers F1 for Channel 4.
Billy’s previous Comic Relief challenge, a 140-mile walking, kayaking and cycling trip across the UK in 2021, raised £3.2million.
But an Ironman? Kona?!
“Mad, isn’t it?” he says, reflecting on going from learning to walk as a double amputee to competing in a world championship triathlon. “But one step at a time.”
His steps included needing four different sets of prosthetics, “eight spare legs”.
Modest as well, he even blushes when you compliment him.
But there is such a steely determination in his eyes, perhaps he always knew he would complete it?
“No way,” he says. “I feared not getting across that line plenty of times.
Get to race day knowing you’ve done all you can. Be the best version of yourself and that’s all that matters
Billy
“To train for something like that, you have to shape every decision around your training.”
Billy did the vast majority of his hundreds of hours of training alone and stump health was a serious concern, despite having a prosthetics specialist on hand.
Put simply, sores and blisters from pressure and rubbing on his legs could put him back in a wheelchair for weeks, meaning no chance of getting to Kona.
Even after all the hundreds of hours’ training, there were still doubts during the event.
He says: “My body was doing things that I’d never seen it do before. Then you see someone passed out on the side of the road and it just adds to that anticipation.
“The shaking, the ‘Am I about to pass out here?’.”
But after a year dedicated to helping others, he wasn’t about to quit.
He adds: “I didn’t want to let other people down.
“The message was, get to race day knowing you’ve done all you can. Be the best version of yourself and that’s all that matters.”
Billy barely remembers the moment the PA announcer screamed “You are an Ironman” at the finish, seconds before he collapsed into the hoardings.
Fuel for the fire
“But he can now watch it back time and time again as he is forever an Ironman. The Iron Monger, if you will.
But Billy still doesn’t feel like this challenge is complete as it is all to raise money for Comic Relief and the community projects the charity supports, such as running clubs, food banks and care centres that Billy visited during his epic year.
I ask if it has sunk in, what he and his family have achieved?
He replies: “In ways it has, but in ways it hasn’t.
“Comic Relief and Red Nose Day on Friday was the fuel for the fire, so it feels like the job is only half done.”
- Billy Monger: The Race Is On for Comic Relief is on tonight at 9pm, BBC One and iPlayer. To donate, go to comicrelief.com/rednoseday/challenges/billy.