There are very few people with a more diverse resume than motivational speaker, adventurer, athlete, pilot, Paralympian, mountaineer, dancer, triathlete and chocolatier Gerrard Gosens.
Whether it is climbing Mt Everest, “Dancing with the Stars’, running marathons or creating a quality chocolate in his two Brisbane retail stores, there are literally no limitations in Gerrard’s world.
What he has accomplished is outstanding by any standard, even more so when you consider he is congenitally blind.
“It is all about persistence and the opportunity, more than genes. And my wife Heather always says, ‘Don’t ask him, because you know he will say, yes’. I am sort of a yes person.”
Gerrard has a strong background in athletics competing in three Paralympic Games and six World Championships in events ranging from 5000m to the marathon. Triathlon really wasn’t on his radar until one day he found himself in the pool recovering from a twisted knee and an opportunity presented itself. In his typical style Gerrard said, ‘Yes’ and since then has embraced triathlon with all his might.
“I used to hate swimming because it is boring and I was swimming up and down and one of the guys in the lane said, ‘Have you ever done a triathlon?’ and asked if I wanted to do one with him. I said ‘OK’ and that was 20 months ago. I did the Luke Harrop Memorial and it went from there.”
Last year Gerrard made his Noosa Triathlon debut and not one to do anything by halves, he quickly followed it up with the Edmonton World Cup, qualified for the ITU World Championships in Rotterdam and is now focussed on competing in triathlon in the PTVI class at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Gerrard makes a welcome return to Noosa this year with his guide, Ultraman winner David Kalinowski, and the pair are in town for a hit out before they embark on yet another challenge. To compete in IRONMAN Western Australia in December and attempt to break the unofficial world record for a blind athlete of 10:44:37 set by John Domandl at Busselton in 2016.
Gerrard is quick to remind us that his achievements are about the team effort and not about one individual. He is keen to see an increased number of sighted athletes making themselves available to work with vision impaired athletes.
“There is a lot in it for the guide as much as the athlete. For example when I go to Noosa or to Busselton, it is not Gerrard Gosens aiming to break the world record, it is the team of David and Gerrard. It is not about me, it is about the teamwork and we need each other to break the world record,” he said.
