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A running injury that kept chemistry graduate Neal Little ’71 off his feet led him to championship competition in triathlons.

He has been ranked as high as 11th in the world championships and was second for Team USA at the 1984 event in Madeira, Portugal, in his age group.

An emergency physician at Chelsea Community Hospital in Chelsea, Mich., Little was an avid marathoner until he injured his foot in the early 1980s. While recuperating, he was able to cross-train in a swimming pool, and a friend suggested he try his hand at triathlons.

“It was a new concept to me, but I trained for one and was able to participate in one that summer,” Little says.

Since that first event, Little has been to eight national championships and has participated in four world championships. He made his fifth trip to the world championships this summer. He has competed in triathlons in Mexico, New Zealand, and Hawaii.

“I love the cross-training, and each individual sport helps the other,” he says. “I’m lucky to have been able to find the sport, and I continue to love it.”

Little is an assistant professor at University of Michigan Medical School, where he did his residency in neurosurgery.

“I love teaching,” he says. “My work is something that I love doing. I really enjoy being able to bring my work experience into the classroom.”

Categorized in: Alumni Profiles