Birkirkara Triathlete Smashes National Record At Ironman In Barcelona, Wins Trip To World Championships In Hawaii For Second Time
Karkariż triathlete Rudolph Agius added his name to the history books last week after achieving an awesome result in Barcelona’s Ironman Triathlon… and in record-breaking time, no less!
Agius is now qualified to compete in the Ironman World Championships held on the Hawaiin island of Kona.
A feat he has already managed to conquer one before, Agius is set to return to the island after placing 85th overall out of a total of 2,767 competitors.
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Agius is one of only a handful of Maltese men to compete in the World Championships, after Dermot Galea became the first islander to qualify in 2013. But Agius is also one of even fewer to qualify for a second time – and for the second year in a row at that.
Not only is Agius blazing the trails with his victories, but this year’s awesome accomplishment was also what smashed the current Maltese national record for the event.
Agius trains predominantly for long-distance and endurance and has already completed a number of Ironman Triathlons.
But it was 2019 that saw his best-ever performance, with a swim time of 55:18, 4:48:30 on the bike and 3:11:27 in the marathon… giving the athlete a final finishing time of 9:00:53.
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Agius placed fifth in his age group among 566 other athletes, and together with his bounty of successes, is now well underway with training for Kona next year.
“To qualify for Kona is the dream of any triathlete,” Agius said. “To achieve this dream for the second time is something more than a few words can describe.”
“It definitely would not have been possible without the support of my family and my club.”
Agius is one of Birkirkara’s St Joseph Club’s top athletes, with the Secretary General expressing his pride in the result, noting it was the third time they were going to be represented in Kona.