UKM Student Creates History By Completing 2026 Ironman 70.3 World Championships In Nice

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 (Bernama) -- First-year Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Faculty of Law student Ahmad Dani Amir Fariz, 19, carved his own piece of history by successfully completing the 2026 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice, France, with a time of 6 hours 44 minutes and 21 seconds.

UKM, in a statement today, announced that Ahmad Dani was the youngest participant from Malaysia and the country's first public university student to qualify for the world-class championships and successfully finish the race alongside seven other participants.

The race saw participants from around the world tackle three disciplines: a 1.8-kilometre (km) swim, a 90 km bike ride, and a 21 km run.

"This is an extremely difficult competition. The cycling segment was too challenging. The hills were so steep and the climbs were so difficult that at times I could only pedal at 11 km/h. However, I tried to make up for lost time on the descents," said Ahmad Dani through the statement.

Ahmad Dani said he also took the approach of enjoying the scenery of the Nice mountains to reduce pressure throughout the race.

He said the running segment was also challenging despite the flat route because it was carried out after leg muscles had worked hard during the cycling, while the scorching hot weather also affected the running tempo.

However, he was determined to enjoy the race considering that this Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Nice was the final time the event would be hosted at that location.

"This is the last time the Ironman 70.3 World Championships is being held in Nice. So, even though the course was very challenging, I was determined to enjoy this race because I don't know when I will ever have the opportunity to swim, bike, and run here again," he said.

Ahmad Dani said his participation in Nice was his third time joining an Ironman 70.3 event, after securing a top-10 finish in the 18 to 24 age category at the 2025 Ironman 70.3 Langkawi, which qualified him for the world championships.

"I am still relatively new to this triathlon sport. Honestly, I didn't expect to qualify for the world championships stage while I was in Langkawi because that was my very first 70.3 triathlon," he said.

Nurturing a dream to continue pursuing triathlon, he also described the success as a starting point to continue making Malaysia, especially UKM, proud on the international stage.

"I also want to prove that university students, especially law majors, are good at time management and can balance their studies with involvement in sports," said the student, who is also a Dean's List recipient for this semester.

-- BERNAMA