Muar MP Syed Saddiq has recently completed his first-ever Ironman despite having to endure pain to reach the finish line.
In an Instagram post, Syed Saddiq shared how, although he had gotten injured after being hit by a fallen tree branch during the Malaysian Ironman Championship, he managed to finish his maiden participation in more than 13 hours.
He shared that he had finished almost 4 hours before the cut-off time and was ranked 6th in his Age category.
The former Youth and Sports Minister completed all three disciplines: swimming 3.8 kilometers (km), cycling 180km, and running 42.2km.
“Prior to the incident, heavy rain and thunderstorm had caused the tree to fall and block the entire road… At that time, I was cycling and an athlete was on my right.”
“At the same time, the car passed there, so I wouldn’t want to push the athlete. At that time, the route was also downhill and the speed was within 30 kilometres per hour, so I couldn’t do anything,” he said when met at the finish line.
When he fell down, he shared that the first thing that crossed his mind was if the incident would be the end of his race and whether he would be able to finish the race, but he was determined to complete the remaining cycling discipline.
“My mother did not teach me to give up, but during the run, it was very painful. When I fell off the bike, my body was bruised, and my right leg hurt due to the impact of hitting a tree branch, so it was difficult to maintain the momentum.”
“In my mind, I just wanted to finish this tournament even though I lost about 30 minutes due to the incident, but I am still grateful that there is no broken bone… There were bruises and bleeding but that is normal,” he said.
He dedicated the Ironman Malaysia medal to both his parents for their unwavering support and also thanked all the volunteers who were quick to provide first aid to him by pulling out the thorns one by one from his body.
“Although the incident happened in my maiden race, I am 110% sure I will participate in the Ironman Langkawi next year.”
Congratulations to him!
