Original subtitles

Being autistic is my superpower.

It makes me hyper-focused and determined.

And I never quit.

We were always going to focus on the things that

he could do...

..and try to make him excel in that.

Never missed a workout.

I always do my best.

All I want is for somebody to see Sam doing what he's doing

and say, "If Sam can do that, it's going to encourage me."

Don't let your disability stop you from doing sports.

You need to feel good about yourself,

and if there's something you can do,

no-one can take that from you.

Sports can help you out and boost your confidence.

Hawai'i Island is home to one of the world's great

endurance races,

the Ironman World Championship.

Every year, thousands of athletes line up to face

triathlon's ultimate test,

a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile run,

battling the elements, the clock and themselves.

It's a race that's not for the faint-hearted.

In 2022, Sam Holness started and completed

his first Kona Ironman.

He crossed the line in a little over 13 hours, almost five

after winner Thomas Fruhwirth.

While Sam, perhaps, wasn't breaking race records,

he was, in fact, shattering barriers.

In completing Kona's notoriously difficult course,

Sam became the first openly neurodivergent athlete

to do so, a feat recognised by Guinness World Records.

Wow. Check it out.

My Guinness World Record Book.

And wow, that's me who ran the Ironman World Championships

in Kona, Hawaii.

I was so excited to receive a Guinness World Record.

When you compete, you wear T-shirts that says,

"Autism is my superpower."

What do you mean by that?

Being autistic is my superpower because it makes me

hyper-focused and determined.

I never give up.

Because I, like, do repetitive tasks.

For example, I can remember any Disney movie, the details.

Training for endurance sports is perfect for me.

Does training and competing give you focus?

Training and competing helps with my confidence

and self-esteem.

It has also helped with my communication skills.

For example...

..I recently did a presentation at a

local primary school with autism and being an athlete.

I don't do these.

You liar.

You know, when people say that you can't do something...

Hello?

..that you should limit your expectations.

Mum Marilyn and dad Tony are the team behind Sam.

Sam's parents found out he was neurodivergent

before he turned four years old.

Tony and Marilyn were told to limit their expectations

for their son, something their background and outlook on life

immediately told them to reject.

I think they were trying to come from a place of kindness

in that it was like, "Don't expect too much,

"limit yourself, and then you won't be disappointed",

or, you know, and, "Prepare yourself for not very much."

And it was like, "Well, you don't know."

"None of us know what's going to be."

And if you give up and do nothing,

then you're definitely going to get nothing.

But if you try something...

..even if it doesn't work, at least you've tried.

He learnt to swim really early.

So on a bad day you could go swimming.

And he could swim up and down and no-one could

take that from him.

And the fact that, yeah, he wasn't talking or the fact

that he was finding certain social situations

really difficult, he could jump in that water

and swim lengths, and be happy, happy, happy.

And so, we didn't accept that "Limit him" and

"Don't have expectations."

We've both got Caribbean roots,

so we draw on those roots, and we define our parents,

Sam's grandparents, as the entrepreneurs,

the original travellers.

You know, they got on the boat from Windrush days

in the '50s, and they came here.

And therefore, if you have that entrepreneurship

perspective about you,

going to somewhere you don't know, doing things that you

don't want to know, then it became quite natural for us

to say, "What can he do?"

Draw the best things out of

Sam to make him the best he can be.

Keep going.

Keep going.

All dads have this thing that, you know, your son must ride

a bicycle by this day.

He's going to play for Tottenham or Chelsea

and, his favourite team now, but you have these dreams

that your son will be good at sport and he's going to

do all these sorts of things. He'll go to university.

You just have these dreams. And I think we...

Some of those...

expectations were never taken away from us, people told us

we were limited, and we realised that one of the things

that Sam needed to do to be healthy was to find avenues.

And it doesn't matter if it was sport or if it was

computer games, it didn't really matter.

He just needed to find that thing.

One of the things that goes hand in hand with autism

is weak motor skills.

Things that other children were doing naturally,

Sam had to be taught. So we did trampolining.

And then I took him to archery.

He did ice hockey.

That's the sort of stuff we went through.

Then, one of the things that happened to Sam

is his communication skills,

but, also, that goes hand in hand with autism...

..is not wanting people to touch them.

Not liking new situations.

So we sent him to judo...

..where it's full contact.

He went there the first four weeks. Just observed...

..and watched. And after that, he started going and doing some

press-ups, doing this, working out.

And he kept doing that until he's got

a brown belt in judo now.

And if it wasn't for Covid, he'd be a black belt right now.

So I don't actually mess with him a lot, you know.

Sport has long played a large part in Sam's life.

Eventually, Sam and his family settled on endurance sports,

which have allowed him to flourish.

We always knew he liked mastery, just from the things

he was doing, the way he played his computer games.

He eventually rode the bicycle at 14.

I'd been trying to teach him to ride since he was five,

and one morning, at 14, he got the bicycle and rode

up and down the road. Mm. It was the most amazing thing.

He could swim. He started doing park runs

because we thought, "Let him go and meet people

"in park runs," but he always ran on his own.

Um, and that's another symptom with autism.

Then because he could run and bike, there was a

London Duathlon in Richmond Park, just around the corner.

So we threw him into that because he knows the park,

he can't get lost, the roads were closed.

We walked the route so he couldn't get lost,

and we just tracked him, you know?

I can't explain to you, you know, we were like the real,

the original helicopter parents.

And we're still a bit like that now.

So he did this first duathlon, and he got a medal.

And if you could see his face when he got his first medal...

Mm-hm. ..it sparked something inside of him.

Babe Ruth famously once said that it's hard to beat a person

who never gives up.

It's a quote that could have been written for Sam.

He refuses to quit,

is driven to be the best athlete he can be,

and his sporting achievements have imbued him

with a sense of confidence.

Medals became very important.

These are things that you use to develop.

And that's it, and from there we just went on and on.

He added swimming to the duathlon,

it became a triathlon. Mm-hm.

Did a sprint race.

Then in 2019, he did his first half Ironman in Cascais...

..Portugal.

Triathlon allowed him to put three things that he was good

at on his own together in one sport.

We tried to put him into events so that he could

develop his social skills, and that he could

expand his communication.

But, actually, he just did it on his own.

So he was just with people, but doing his own thing

with those people. But it just pulled together things

that he could do, and therefore excel in.

And, you know, although he may not be the best swimmer,

the best cyclist, the best runner, combined,

he actually is a force to be reckoned with.

He likes to medal.

He gets a medal, and he knows he's done well.

And each medal, it's a milestone.

It shows that you've achieved something, and you work

towards something, and then you achieve.

So that notion of, you know, that works really well

for Sam, and each time he achieves something more,

he grows in confidence, he grows in stature, he grows.

And you see it in the way he carries himself.

Most recent example is the best example.

You had the London Marathon.

Second marathon.

Sub three hours.

Hey guys, it's a long, long walk

all the way to the marathon. I'm excited.

And we planned it.

We really planned it really hard.

So I started that race.

I got him to the start line

and sent him off.

And he called me...

..the minute he crossed the line, and he said,

"I did it, Dad. I did it."

And that was a seminal moment... Mm.

..in terms of the way that he races, and the way that

he sees races, and achieving.

And I think it's given him that little edge of confidence

that, "You know what? "I'm OK at this."

Only 4% of people in the world run sub three...

..and he's going to run 2.30.

He's going to run 2.30.

Because he has it in him.

He actually believes, and it's true,

he is an athlete.

And if you say to him,

"Sam, what do you do?" He says, "I'm a triathlete."

He sees himself that way.

He watches sport all of the time, and he looks at

other triathletes, and he knows he's one of them.

And that's a real positive place to be because

many of us don't know who we are or what we are

or what we want to be.

And he's found that.

And...

..that's just, you know, and that's something that has,

yeah, he's just woken up, and he knows that's what he is,

And it's a really nice feeling to see.

We're proud of it. I think you're right.

We all go through life, right?

A lot of the times we just fall into things. Mm.

But if you can do something that you love for life,

cos there are 82-year-olds doing triathlons, yeah?

It's a blessing.

It is the most amazing thing.

You know, it's not for the money or the mortgage.

He's doing it because he loves it.

It's in his heart. It's what he wants to do.

And it's what he does 24/7.

And that is just absolutely amazing.

While Sam proudly boasts that being autistic gives him

a superpower, thinking differently means that

competing isn't always straightforward.

Racing at major events has seen him have to overcome challenges

that are both physical and mental.

Most people with autism have IBS, and this can

affect during races.

I used to be worried about noises and crowds,

but I wanted to get over this.

For example, I just ran the London Marathon

in 2 hours, 57 minutes and 33 seconds

and I wasn't distracted by the noise and the crowds.

We have to go together because

we bring different things to the party.

We bring different things to Sam's experience.

Tony's his coach.

Tony is making sure he's, you know, he's his manager,

he's booking things, and arranging travel, and sorting

all of those things, and then in the background, there's a

whole other set of things that need doing in relation to just

making sure that, you know, he's got his right,

normal nutrition alongside his sporting nutrition.

That he's got his right kit and all of these kind of bits,

because some of those things a typical athlete would just

get on with those things themselves.

We have to do a double check. We have to make sure.

We're having to do the kind of logistics

and the scouting it beforehand.

With autism comes a set of gut issues,

and we have to make sure that he's going to go somewhere

where he's going to be able to get the right kind of food.

And all of these things need to be in place as well.

So we bring different things.

I'm working with him more in terms of wellbeing,

and just making sure that he's relaxing and, kind of,

breathing through, and Tony's working on the physical and

the mobility, and all of those sorts of issues.

So between us, we, yeah, we all, we need to be there

together to make sure that we enable him

to be able to actively take part.

Because if we destabilise him,

you know, if he's only got his physical bits, um,

then he might be more anxious.

He may be more worrisome. He may not settle.

He may, you know, his eating might go off,

and then his digestion, and all that's going to

impact on his race.

It takes a village to make a champion.

There's a lot to...

When I look at other athletes,

They get Lottery money, they get access to the best coaches,

um, nutritionists, physios.

We don't have that. Mm. This is...

Every penny we've earned, every penny we spend,

is helping to develop Sam, um,

to give him a better quality of life.

The challenge for the Holness family

is that they are competing against elite athletes

with the very best support networks

providing them with everything they need to succeed.

For Team Holness, this makes the task of turning Sam

into a champion greater.

But he wouldn't want it any other way.

What's it like being trained by your dad?

Oh. Oh, my dad and I work as a team.

We're like Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King

or Goofy and Max from the Disney Goofy movie,

and we're always bickering.

I was in...banking.

I worked for an investment bank, I was in IT.

I gave up my job three years ago to coach my son because...

..he actually needed it.

Um, once we made the decision

on what he was going to do with his future,

so we thought, "It's a bucket list.

"Let's go to this country, this country, do this."

We thought, "No, let's make a champion."

And that was a really scary thing to say.

First, I didn't know what it was.

And then I've been on that journey of learning

what it is to become a champion.

And it requires consistency, and hard work, determination.

It's all the things that in the corporate world, I learnt,

are what make great CEO's.

And these are all the traits that are embedded in Sam.

It's there without even thinking about.

He doesn't have to think about it.

He gets up crack of dawn, and he works out.

You know, he'd go to swim 9 o'clock at night if I say,

"We're going to work out," and he does all of those things.

I think my dad is the best coach for me

because he understands how to communicate with me.

Come on, next to me.

He's also democratic,

and he doesn't shout that often.

Have you ever had any fallings out with your dad

while he's coaching you?

No. No, we never fall out.

We are best buddies.

If we bicker, we always make up,

like Danny Glover and Mel Gibson from Lethal Weapon

or the Bad Boys with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

Bringing up your children

and seeing Sam turn into a man...

..that has goals and dreams, and I can work with him

and see that, it is the best job in the world.

As a sport, triathlon struggles for diversity.

According to a 2021 British triathlon annual report,

just 3.2% of British triathlon members are from an ethnically

diverse background, compared to around 18%

of the population from census data from the same year.

It's a common occurrence for Sam to be one of, if not the

only black participant at races around the world.

You know, when we go to an event, we are, you know, like,

we're probably one of the few black couples there,

black families there, and Sam sometimes will say,

"Oh, look, I'm the only black one."

And he just notices.

But...that's what, that's the experience that...

It's a...it's a... just a given.

That is what the situation is.

So he'll say it, um, and we'll say, and sometimes it's,

you know, you know that when other people are meeting us,

sometimes you can see it almost on their face like,

"Ah, oh, we didn't expect you to be black.

"We just kind of..." You know.

And I think it makes them stop and think as well.

And what it does is allow the conversation, because...

..you're in a situation whereby if the majority of

the triathlon, triathletes, and the organisation,

and the set-up are predominantly, you know,

indigenous white people there, and then we come in and they

see us, and then there's a conversation.

Yeah, it will sometimes be about race, but that's OK

because it's OK to talk about race.

It's OK to say that, "Actually, there aren't many

"people like us here and..." you know...

"Do we want some more? What might we do?

"How can we do it?"

You know, "What are you thinking about that?

"How can we maybe move that forward?"

So it starts the conversation, and it opens the door.

It puts a little, you know, push on the door.

And maybe if that door opens, some people will come in.

You need to see it to be it.

What we're trying to do is work hard to introduce people

to the sport in communities where previously the sport

hasn't really had much impact.

So, for example, in England, our participation strategy,

we've done a huge piece of research to look at places

in England where there's a high indexation

of ethnic minority, of deprivation, but where there

is some level of swim, bike, and run facility

available and a local club,

and we're really focusing on those areas.

But rather than going into those areas and saying,

"Here's how you should engage with triathlon", we're engaging

with the community leaders in those places.

And in each case, the situation is different.

And we're asking them to tell us, "How can we support you

"to engage in swim, bike, run in ways that are meaningful

"to you and relevant to you?"

So it's quite labour intensive, but it's critical,

we think, and absolutely worthwhile,

to do things in that way.

We are still under indexing on some of those

key demographics.

Until we address that...

..we won't stop.

We are seeing progress.

We're seeing, um, progress at the very highest level.

You know, you just need to look at our

Olympic and Paralympic success in Tokyo,

and, all being well, the athletes that are battling for

qualification and selection for next year in Paris.

And if people can see that you have non-white athletes

wearing the GB tri-suit in Paris next summer,

then I think that reinforces the message, really, that

Sam Holness is sending out,

that this is a sport for everybody.

Ready?

I love smashing barriers...

..and Sam's just doing his job...

..to be the best he can at what he does.

If as a consequence of that, we smash barriers and break

down glass ceilings...

..all the good.

Despite coming to endurance racing relatively late in life,

time is firmly on Sam's side if he's to realise his goal

of being a champion.

Typically, endurance athletes tend to reach their peak

in their mid to late 30s.

Having raced at both the 70.3 and 140.6

Ironman World Championships in the past 12 months,

and having seen the best close-up,

Sam now knows what it takes.

Experiences like that will prove invaluable going forward.

All I want is for somebody...

..to see Sam doing what he's doing

and get up and say, "God, if Sam can do that,

"it's going to encourage me."

Yeah? That's all I'm asking for.

You know, when I get a DM...

..in the morning and it's come from a dad who has...

..autistic children, or an autistic boy, and he says,

"Can I talk to you?"

And they're based in Canada or South Africa,

I say, "Just call me."

Yeah? And I talk to them.

And if they feel better for a day...or an hour,

or it gives them hope, and the word is always hope,

"You're giving us hope that my child who's on the spectrum

"or neurodiverse...can have a life."

And that's probably Sam's biggest gift to a lot

of people, that there is hope.

My journey is, you know, I came from Jamaica with £20

in my pocket and, um...

..you know, today...

..we're good.

I got a boy who's going to be a champion...

..a beautiful wife.

I can't ask for much more.

You competed at the Kona Ironman,

which is one of the world's most famous races.

How did you find that experience?

Being in Kona was an enjoyable experience.

The weather in Kona was hot and humid,

even hotter than Jamaica...

..and I like the sunshine, beaches, volcanoes.

Racing in Kona was special because it's

the Ironman 140.6 World Championships

that everybody wants to get to.

I was very proud to participate.

After the race, I became the first triathlete with autism

to compete at the World Championships.

I got a Guinness World Record.

What did you learn about yourself at that race?

I learned that I could compete in the hardest Ironman race.

And in fact, I can meet my dream of becoming

a black triathlete with autism one day.

I would like to become

the first professional triathlete with autism,

and motivate others that are neurodiverse...

..and look like me, to take up the sport.

I feel very proud.

I want to encourage other black athletes to take up

swim, bike, run...

..and dream of becoming champions.