MP Muar Syed Saddiq recently made headlines after finishing in 3rd place in a recent triathlon. The win took many netizens by surprise, especially those who participated in the event themselves.
In a recent post shared by @jllmisai, a random participant in the event commented on @syedsaddiq‘s (now deleted) post announcing his 1st podium finish in the triathlon.
He completed the race in just 2 hours and 37 minutes
Syed Saddiq was called out in the comments, with many expressing surprise at his impressive finish time of just 2 hours and 37 minutes.
One commenter explained that he also participated in the event. He mentioned that Syed Saddiq was behind him during the swim and never overtook him during the bike race, yet somehow managed to be ahead of him during the run.
“Syed Saddiq’s IRONMAN Desaru race just 2 months ago had the same bike course, and he finished in 3 hours and 31 minutes. So how could he finish this race in just 2 hours and 37 minutes? Even the fastest rider from Spain completed it in 2 hours and 31 minutes,” the commenter wrote.
“Are you really that fast?”
The commenter expressed his disappointment, mentioning how he had always respected Syed Saddiq as a politician capable of bringing honest and integral change to the country. However, after this incident, he now has doubts.
“Syed Saddiq not only took the 3rd place podium position that should have gone to the rightful, hard-working competitor who didn’t cheat, but also undermined the spirit of fairness in the race.”
He also questioned Syed Saddiq, wondering if there were other instances where he might have manipulated situations, given that he did so in the recent race.
“This was an honest mistake on my part”
Due to the overwhelming response from netizens online, some of whom pointed out discrepancies in Syed Saddiq’s performance during the 3 biking loops totaling 90km.
Many suggested that he may have only completed 2 loops or 60km, prompting him to take responsibility and post an apology video explaining his side of the story.
In the video, he mentioned how he had gathered the latest updates and data requested, showing a detailed breakdown of each lap at every checkpoint, which he received from the technical team.
“After cross-referencing this with my iWatch data, it was clear there was a mistake. I take full responsibility for it. I unreservedly apologise to the triathlon community.”
“Thus, explaining why it wasn’t 2 loops at 60km, but 3 loops at 72km”
In the video, Syed Saddiq also mentioned that during the bike session, he noticed something was off as he returned earlier than expected. He immediately flagged his concern to the technical team 1.
“I was told then that there was no issue, so I continued with the race as usual. Technical team 1 included two officers who can testify to this.”
He mentioned that the reason he didn’t reveal the data earlier was because some of the facts weren’t accurate. For instance, his watch data showed he swam only 100m, whereas the race records showed 2.25km. Additionally, the registered running time was much later than reported.
“That’s why I waited for the official data to cross-reference first. Even though I flagged the issue during the race and informed the technical team, as a participant, I should have been more responsible.”
His status was marked as “did not finish” (DNF)
Syed Saddiq went on to explain that after discussions with the organisers and technical representatives, he believed it was best to classify his status as DNF. He also highlighted that the organisers too recognised it was an honest mistake.
“I promise to be more careful in the future and will work closely with the community to learn and improve, as this sport holds a special place in my heart.”
You can watch the full video down below:
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