Twenty years after 'The Crawl' -- one of the most iconic moments in triathlon -- Sian Welch is back in Kona to again take on the Hawaii Ironman.
Welch, who is married to Australian triathlon legend Greg Welch, was third with only about 150m to the finish line at the 1997 world championships in when her body started to shut down after almost 10 hours of racing in the brutal heat.
Her body twisted and contorted. She dropped to the bitumen. She picked herself up. And fell again.
Welch was passed by Fernanda Keller.
And then fellow Californian Wendy Ingraham loomed.
The pair swayed and collapsed, almost in unison, before Ingraham realised crawling was the quickest way - and perhaps the only way - she would cross the finish line.
Welch copied her and got home in fifth place.
It was inspiring and mesmerising. The video has clocked up 3.7 million views on YouTube.
Welch returns to race on Saturday (Sunday AEDT), motivated mainly to raise money and awareness for her Freedom To Live foundation, which supports people who have suffered spinal cord injuries.
She hopes to hit the $US1 million mark in donations.
"I've realised it was a defining moment in my life," Welch told AAP.
"As the years have gone on, the video has grown. People ask me 'how can you put your body through that?'"
"They tell me they were inspired, that they got emotional. Some say they cried.
"And there's a reason why that happened. It's led me to the foundation."
At the age of 51, Welch feels that even though it's been a rushed preparation, she's ready to take on the Ironman distance - a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run - once more.
"In January, I didn't even have a bike," she said.
"But I feel great.
"My daughters can't believe I'm going to do it."
