IRONMAN 70.3 Triathlon: Bishworjit Singh Saikhom Becomes Country’s First Winner of This Event, Indians Secure Top 3 Position

Bishworjit Singh Saikhom of the Indian Army becomes the first person in India to complete Ironman 70.3 triathlon which was held in Goa on Oct 20, 2019. This was India's first-ever Ironman 70.3 Triathlon where 29 years old Bishworjit Singh Saikhom who work as Havildar with the Bombay Sapper completed 1.9 km of swimming, 90 km cycling and 21 km of running with an impressive time of 4 hours 42 minutes 44 seconds. He finished ahead of India's Nihal Baig alumni of IIT Bombay, who clocked 4 hours 47 minutes 47 seconds to finish second. Let us see below what all happened in this Triathlon as Indians secured top three position in this event. IRONMAN 70.3 Triathlon: Indian Army’s Bishworjit Singh Saikhom Scripts History, Wins Nation's First-Ever Triathlon.

Mahesh Lourembam, a native of Manipur, completed the triathlon in 4 hours 52 minutes as he finished 3rd. All top three positions were secured by Indian as Pablo Erat of Switzerland finishes on 4th position. Lourembam finished the race with a time of 4 hours 52 minutes while Erat who was considered as the top contender of the event reached the finish line at 4 hours 56 minutes on the clock.

Saikhom is happy to beat Pablo Erat of Switzerland, who is regarded as the best participant in this event. Singh said in an interview after the race that "It was my aim to defeat Pablo for many years. I competed in the 2015 triathlon in Goa where Pablo was the winner. He has been consistently winning over the past few years. It was really my aim to beat him here in this race.

Saikhom because of his amazing performance has received an invitation to participate in the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships in New Zealand next year. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who also attended the event, said: "The IRONMAN 70.3 Goa has seen participants from 27 countries taking part in this event. It is a matter of great pride that this event being organised in India for the first time was hosted in Goa. It is a great example of sports tourism and the Government will continue to promote such events to be held here.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2019 01:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).