Running to Success: College of Sciences Alumnus and Two-Time Paralympian Shares His Journey
Kyle Coon reflects on shaping his career since graduating from UCF.
By: Emily Dougherty | June 4, 2025
Q: Can you please share more about yourself?
A: I was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer when I was 10 months old, called bilateral sporadic retinoblastoma. For the first six years of my life, I grew up in and out of hospitals. Eventually my left eye had to be removed when I was five years old and my right eye when I was six years old.
While I was a student, I joined the UCF club wrestling team and worked as a group exercise instructor at the Recreation and Wellness Center. It was my first real job, and it encouraged me to love teaching, motivating, and encouraging people to pursue better health for themselves. In 2013, I graduated from the Nicholson School of Communication and Media with a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal organizational communication.
I became the first totally blind person to complete an Iron Man Triathlon in under 11 hours. When looking for the next thing to accomplish, I decided to strive for the Paralympics. I was invited by USA Triathlon to apply for residency at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and moved there in 2019. Two years later, I attended the Tokyo Paralympic Games and finished fifth place in the race I ran. I decided to pursue a spot in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris and came in eighth place in my race.
Q: You are a two-time Paralympian and completed many challenging marathons- congratulations on these incredible achievements! What inspired you to start running and keep pursuing it?
A: I was really struggling after graduation trying to find gainful employment, I remember thinking, “Well, nothing is worse than the situation that I’m currently in, maybe I’ll hate running a little bit less.” So, I started to run, despite hating it.
I decided to keep pursuing it by running triathlons and different types of adventure because I enjoyed the process of continuing to get better by pushing my physical and mental limits.
Q: You are open about your personal journey both as a professional speaker and on social media. Can you explain what motivated you to share your story with others?
A: The word “inspiration” can sometimes be a double-edged sword in the disability community, and there are times in this community when you don’t want to be viewed that way. The way I look at it is that inspiration can be a stimulus that makes you think or feel differently to make a change. We must be willing to be open, honest, and truthful about our journeys and our experiences, because if we aren’t we can’t change the world.
Q: As an alumnus, what role did your UCF education play in helping you get to where you are today?
A: My UCF education permeates everything that I do as a public speaker and having a presence on social media. In terms of communication, UCF gave me the foundation to know how to communicate to both large and small audiences. I had one professor, Joan McCain, who has since retired from UCF, who helped me to hone my writing and speaking voice. Lindsay Hudok is another professor who had a profound impact on my career. Her guidance, tutelage, and writing for public relations really guided me in the right direction.
Q: What advice do you have for Knights who are looking to take their journey in a new direction that they might be unsure about?
A: Do the simple things well and do the simple things better. I did not become a two-time Paralympian overnight. In fact, the first 5K I participated in over ten years ago took me over half an hour to complete. Now, I consistently run a 5K in under 18 minutes. You have to remember that improvement takes time.