Bangladesh’s premier triathlete Shamsuzzaman Arafat finished Ironman 70.3 World Championship for the second time in Lahti, Finland.
He took 4 hours 57 minutes 59 seconds in total to cross the finishing line.
The race was 1.9km swim, 90km bike, and 21.1km run.
He took 36 minutes 14 seconds to finish the swimming part, bike in 2 hours and 34 minutes and completed running in 1 hour and 35 minutes.
He achieved his personal best time in running but in the bike and swim, he struggled a lot for cold.
“At the beginning, my swim goggles broke, but I was not afraid as I got spare goggles from the organizer. But in the bike I struggled a lot due to the rain and cold. I got cramped in hamstring and thigh which resulted in me stopping in the middle. At the beginning of the run it was tough to step up, gradually I got back my running rhythm and finished strongly,” Arafat was quoted as saying in a press release Tuesday.
“This is the best timing than my previous 70.3 World Championship in St. George, USA. I am happy with the result as I struggled a lot the last few months."
The result made him 344th in his age category and overall, he was placed 1,969th out of 3,960 athletes.
Arafat started playing sports as a hobby.
But he excelled in triathlon through the process of personal improvement.
He is the first Bangladeshi finisher of Ironman World Championship and Ironman 70.3 World Championship.
He is going to participate in Ironman World Championship in Nice, France.
Four other Bangladeshis will also join him at this mega championship.
His journey is sponsored by Apex Lingerie Limited and Meghna Group of Industries.
Nutri Plus supports him as nutrition partner.