Marcel Nico Andreas Heinig (born on 16 November 1981 in

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exten ...

) is a German

extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...

man who has had his greatest success in decatriathlons, which are more than fifty times the distance of the

Olympic Distance Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the d ...

. He scored his biggest victory by winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Decatriathlon (10x

Ironman Hawaii The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

) in 2008. Heinig attended Leonardo da Vinci School in Cottbus. In his youth, Heinig skipped physical education and did everything possible to dodge sports activities. He was 40 kg overweight and very unsportsmanlike. However, when he joined the army in 2001, he could no longer avoid intense physical activity. He faced problems due to being overweight during the Physical Fitness Test, drills and orientation process. However, seven years later, the once unathletic Marcel became the youngest World Champion in the history of the Decatriathlon.

Achievements and titles

* Worldwide youngest member of the "100 Marathon Club" (Germany), 2005 * Age group- and Group world record in the 10-day-triathlon, 2006 * World Cup Champion International Ultra Triathlon Association, 2008 * World Champion Decatriathlon, 2008 * Worldrecord overall in the 10-Days-Triathlon, 2009 Results 10-Days-Triathlon Worldrecord-Race, read 29 April 2010

References

External links

*
Official website
1981 births Living people German male triathletes German male long-distance runners German ultramarathon runners Endurance games Sportspeople from Cottbus Male ultramarathon runners {{Germany-triathlon-bio-stub