China's Cao Junyu Clinches Debut Win In Ironman 70.3 Desaru Coast

KOTA TINGGI, May 19 (Bernama) -- China’s athlete, Cao Junyu makes a lucky entrance when he became the fastest participant in the men's category in the Ironman 70.3 Asia Triclub Championship Desaru Coast in his debut here today.

The participant from the Chongqing region had to go through three disciplines of the competition, namely swimming 1.9 kilometres (km), cycling (90 km) and running (21.1 km) before successfully claiming victory with a time of 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, the second and third fastest participants were Assad Attamimi of Australia (4 hours 35 minutes) and Gleb Korash from Thailand (4 hours 39 minutes).

According to Cao, 37, since 2013 he has never been the fastest participant in any Ironman or Ironman 70.3 tournament and his best record is second overall at Ironman 70.3 Puerto Princesa in the Philippines, last year.

"I will remember this success, even though I have participated in many of tournaments before," he told reporters after the tournament.

Meanwhile, in the female category, the fastest participant was Choo Ling Er of Singapore (4 hours 52 minutes) and in the second place was Krisztinq Vazci from Hungary (5 hours 4 minutes) while the third was Victoria Hill from the United Kingdom (5 hours 18 minutes).

According to Choo, 37, this year is her second win in the same tournament after last year's success.

She said, the main challenge to participate in Ironman 70.3 in Desaru this time was experiencing difficulties during training after being involved in a road accident, a few months ago.

In the meantime, Shahrom Abdullah, 45, became Malaysia's fastest participant, thus successfully making up for last year's disappointment when he had to withdraw due to health problems.

Ironman 70.3 Asia Triclub Championship Desaru Coast, which entered its third year, involved the participation of 800 athletes from 49 countries including the United Kingdom, China, Northern Ireland, France, Australia, Germany, Singapore, Thailand and several other European countries.

This year also, the addition of categories was implemented with the presence of local and international group categories instead of only individuals before by offering cash prizes and trophies for the top three in each category.

-- BERNAMA