Isaac overcomes emotional struggle to complete Asia Triathlon challenge
National triathlon champion, Isaac Tan admitted to battling with emotions before successfully completing the challenge as Malaysia’s top triathlete at the 2024 Asia Triathlon Cup at the Putrajaya Water Sports Complex here yesterday.
Isaac, 19, however, was satisfied with his position at 26th out of 68 participants, recording a time of 57 minutes and 59 seconds in the elite men’s category.
“I did really well on the bike and run but my stomach didn’t feel good and just recovered on the finish line (but) I continue to push hard and this was an emotional race because I like the bike course.
“(The) 2024 kick off season is done and dusted. I want to be consistent with my time (after this) but I have to push the limit, does not matter if my stomach cramps but still have to push and pray to God that I can push on the run,” he told reporters afterwards.
Christopher Deegan from Australia emerged as the champion in the elite men’s category with an outstanding time of 53 minutes and 22 seconds, followed by Chinese triathlete Junjie Fan in second place (53.52s), and Philip Pertl from Austria in third place (54.15s).
Meanwhile, Esther Joy Chen emerged as the top Malaysian female triathlete by finishing 12th out of 25 participants in the elite women’s category, with a time of 1 hour 08.15 seconds.
Swiss trathlete Julie Derron emerged as the champion with a time of 57 minutes and 29 seconds, followed by Bailee Brown from Hong Kong (59.03s) and Alanis Sifferet from Switzerland in third place (59.35s).