BIOGRAPHY

Justin Park is a professional triathlete who, despite being relatively new to the sport of triathlon, has quickly been able to put forth strong results that have catapulted his career into a full-time pursuit and allowed him to make his corporate legal career a part-time occupation.

An endurance athlete for as long as he can remember, Justin has a strong competitive background in both swimming and running, focusing on the breaststroke and individual medley in the pool and posting a personal-best 4:16 mile in high school while garnering All-State honors in Cross-Country and Track & Field. However, his true passion was soccer, and he ultimately signed to play soccer at Penn State University.

Unfortunately, before Justin's college soccer career could even begin, he was diagnosed with a severe heart condition after experiencing a series of fainting episodes during competition at the end of his senior year in high school. As a result of the condition, Justin regretfully was forced to end his career as an athlete.

Since soccer was no longer an option, Justin instead attended Duke University and focused his attention on his education, obtaining a bachelor's degree in both economics and history before attending law school at UCLA. Upon graduation from UCLA, Justin began a career as a corporate attorney, specializing in Mergers & Acquisitions.

While working long hours as an attorney, Justin's competitive fires began to come back in full, and he visited a series of doctors to determine whether he could return to the world of elite endurance sports. Because the condition, known as Long QT Syndrome, generally is considered to have a serious risk of death only among children and young adults, the doctors cleared him to pursue his dreams again so long as his health was regularly and consistently monitored.

While success on the amateur level of triathlon came quickly, it was not until Justin spoke to several coaches in the sport that he knew he had the potential to make triathlon a full-time pursuit. And while many may see Justin's decision to forego a lucrative legal career for the relative unknown of life as a professional triathlete as borderline crazy, the fact that his athletic career was prematurely taken from him several years before as a result of a heart condition made this decision a simple one for him.

And it is this second chance - the opportunity to pursue a full-time career in a sport that he loves after being subjected to a potentially life-threatening condition, and the opportunity to show competitors and fans of triathlon that anything, even the most serious of medical issues, can be overcome - that fuels Justin's passion to succeed in the sport and makes even the most grueling training session on the track, in the pool, or on the bike a wonderful day at the "office."