United States
First introduced to triathlon in 2015 after his father suffered a stroke at the finish line of a triathlon in his hometown. Erik took on the role to become triathlete and completed the same race a year later in his fathers honor. Erik went on to complete a handful of local sprint races as an age group athlete in the following years. It wasn’t until 2019, when Erik lost his own leg in a tragic pedestrian trauma collision, that he would take sport seriously. While standing on a busy street corner waiting to cross, a vehicle involved in a two-car collision at the stoplight struck Erik, causing his leg to be traumatically amputated below the knee on sight. Determined to overcome his loss, Erik turned back to (para) triathlon as a way to motivate him through recovery. Just 8 months after his amputation Erik completed his first sprint triathlon as a paratriathlete. He began to train full time, setting his sights on the Tokyo Paralympics. But in March 2020 while traveling to his first International qualifier race, the COVID pandemic struck and Erik would not get the chance to race for the rest of 2020. Instead, he spent the year training and preparing full time in Arizona. Finally, Erik got the chance to prove himself in 2021, for a successful rookie season, placing 4th at his first ever International race, and 2nd at the 2021 USA paratriathlon national championship. Without racing in 2020 though, Erik was unable to qualify for Tokyo based on the world rankings and the deadline period. That only set a new fire inside him to prepare for breakout seasons in 2022 and 2023 and to build a name for himself as a candidate for the podium leading into the Paris 2024 games. So far, that has proven to be true with a 6th place finish at the 2022 world championship.
