About
About
Athlete Application
Athlete Application
Careers
Careers
Privacy
Privacy
Terms
Terms
Join Our Newsletter
Jeff and Johnny Agar, known as TeamAgar, are endurance athletes who recently competed as a team in the 2024 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Despite being diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Johnny has always dreamt of being an athlete And with his dad, Jeff acting as his arms and legs, the two Agars combine to be an inspirational team.
This is their story from Hawaii, and beyond.
Limitless
PHOTOS BY PHOTOGRAPHER NAME/The Players' Tribune
About
Athlete application
Careers
Privacy
Terms
Join Our Newsletter
PHOTOS BY PHOTOGRAPHER NAME/The Players' Tribune
BY Jeff and Johnny Agar
PHOTOS BY Patrick Smith
photos by Patrick Smith/Getty Images
PHOTOS BY PHOTOGRAPHER NAME/The Players' Tribune
Jeff
When we were on the bike, and we were struggling a bit, there was this really incredible moment. Johnny can tell it better.
Johnny
There was a cyclist passing us. As he went by us, he tapped on my back and said, “Your book is the reason I’m here.” And I just couldn’t believe it. He was talking about the book my mom and I wrote, The Impossible Mile – The Power in Living Life One Step at a Time. It’s about my life with cerebral palsy and just how I’ve tried to be the best version of myself every single day, and how I try to overcome challenges. When that rider said that to me, it meant so much. Dad and I know how hard it is just to even get into this Ironman — all the sweat and tears that go into this. So, for that guy to say that to me … it just put things back into perspective a bit, I think.
Jeff
I’m a very competitive person, focused on the end result. But Johnny and how he motivates people throughout the world is a constant reminder of what really matters. You know, not everybody in life will always get to succeed — but everyone, everyone, will struggle. And so if you can find a way to continue, even when it’s tough, well, that resonates with people. That’s part of why we wanted to come back to Hawaii in 2024 after we couldn’t finish the race in 2016.
Johnny
We’ve grown a lot in eight years. We’ve learned a lot. For me, I just tried to take as much as I could from the experience. With any great challenge, there’s a lot of failure in success. That’s why I love to focus on the journey and not just the outcome. I want to get better every day, especially being motivated by other athletes around me. In turn I hope I’m able to provide a little motivation for them, to help them succeed. I feel that gives my challenges purpose.
Jeff
We joke frequently that we didn’t even know that triathletes don’t wear underwear under their bike shorts. We didn’t get that info until pretty late in the game. We say we went from “chafing the dream,” to “chasing the dream!”
Johnny
We like to have fun and not take ourselves too seriously and also to learn from our mistakes as well as learning from very experienced people in the endurance community, who are fantastic about helping newcomers to the sport.
Jeff
Just about everything was new to us when we were offered the chance to compete in the Ironman World Championship back in 2016. At that point, we hadn’t even done a half Ironman. Since then, we’ve competed all over the U.S. and in Germany. After several “successful” failures (described this way because we believe there is always something good that can come out of failure), we finished a full Ironman in Maryland in 2022, where Johnny was able to walk across the finish line in his walker. So coming to Hawaii this year, we had a lot of confidence.
Johnny
Dad puts in so much hard work, he makes me so proud. I’ve seen the effort he’s put forward and it makes me want to work even harder to improve myself. I want to do everything I can to be the best version of myself. We feed off each other.
Jeff
Being 61, it’s been an incredible experience to be able to push myself like this and do it all beside Johnny. And our whole family has been such a big part of this entire journey. Becki, my wife, has done so much for us and it’s been a total team effort. Johnny’s two sisters, Annie and Gracy, support us every step of the way and having us all together in Hawaii was just really, really special.
Johnny
Even though we didn’t get across the finish line this year, everything that went into this race meant so much to me. Hearing from people like The Rock and Peyton Manning, I mean … how cool is that? It just tells me that I’m on the right path and that even though it’s maybe not easy for me, I can still have an impact, and that I can still make a difference. To me, that’s really what competing in endurance sports is all about.
Jeff
Johnny inspires me every day and he makes it easy to get up and train, to work hard, to make the impossible possible. It’s a privilege to be his dad. I can’t wait to see what’s next for him.
Johnny
This race has just motivated me even more to keep pushing. I really want to complete a 5K on my own. There’s one back in our hometown in Rockford, Michigan, called Mitchell’s Run that’s coming up next August, and I’ve got my eyes set on that. I can give Dad a little break and try to get across that line on my own. I want to put my words into action and keep showing people what I’m capable of.
I know I can do anything I put my mind to. I know we all can if we maintain a strong faith, believe in our abilities, learn from our failures, while getting good help from others, and living by the Ironman mantra that truly “Anything is Possible.”
jeff Agar
Johnny inspires me every day and he makes it easy to get up and train, to work hard, to make the impossible possible.
“
For more on Team Agar and to learn how to support, click here.
Jeff
There was just a lot we didn’t know back then in 2016, in fact, we didn’t even know what we didn’t know! A humorous example is the “underwear thing”….
Johnny
You didn’t have to bring that up….
Team Agar
November 01, 2024
Jeff
Just about everything was new to us when we were offered the chance to compete in the Ironman World Championship back in 2016. At that point, we hadn’t even done a half Ironman. Since then, we’ve competed all over the U.S. and in Germany. After several “successful” failures (described this way because we believe there is always something good that can come out of failure), we finished a full Ironman in Maryland in 2022, where Johnny was able to walk across the finish line in his walker. So coming to Hawaii this year, we had a lot of confidence.
Johnny
Dad puts in so much hard work, he makes me so proud. I’ve seen the effort he’s put forward and it makes me want to work even harder to improve myself. I want to do everything I can to be the best version of myself. We feed off each other.
Jeff
Being 61, it’s been an incredible experience to be able to push myself like this and do it all beside Johnny. And our whole family has been such a big part of this entire journey. Becki, my wife, has done so much for us and it’s been a total team effort. Johnny’s two sisters, Annie and Gracy, support us every step of the way and having us all together in Hawaii was just really, really special.
Johnny
Even though we didn’t get across the finish line this year, everything that went into this race meant so much to me. Hearing from people like The Rock and Peyton Manning, I mean … how cool is that? It just tells me that I’m on the right path and that even though it’s maybe not easy for me, I can still have an impact, and that I can still make a difference. To me, that’s really what competing in endurance sports is all about.
Jeff
Johnny inspires me every day and he makes it easy to get up and train, to work hard, to make the impossible possible. It’s a privilege to be his dad. I can’t wait to see what’s next for him.
Johnny
This race has just motivated me even more to keep pushing. I really want to complete a 5K on my own. There’s one back in our hometown in Rockford, Michigan, called Mitchell’s Run that’s coming up next August, and I’ve got my eyes set on that. I can give Dad a little break and try to get across that line on my own. I want to put my words into action and keep showing people what I’m capable of.
I know I can do anything I put my mind to. I know we all can if we maintain a strong faith, believe in our abilities, learn from our failures, while getting good help from others, and living by the Ironman mantra that truly “Anything is Possible.”
For more on Team Agar and to learn how to support, click here.
dusty baker
I ended up being in the same room with, walking around with … history.
I know now that I was definitely sent to the South for a reason.
“
Team Agar
November 01, 2024
