PANJIM: Bishworjit Singh Saikhom of the Indian Army created history as he finished first in India’s first-ever IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon held here in Goa on Sunday.
The 29-year-old based in Pune working as Havildar with the Bombay Sappers completed the gruelling distance of 1.9km swim, 90km cycling and 21 kms run with an impressive time of 4 hours 42 minutes 44 seconds much ahead of India’s Nihal Baig, an alumni of IIT Bombay, who clocked 4 hours 47 minutes 47 seconds to finish second.
The inaugural edition of the event was a memorable outing for the Indians as the third triathlete to cross the finish-line was Mahesh Lourembam, a native of Manipur, who pushed seasoned triathlete Pablo Erat of Switzerland who was billed as the top contender of the event to the fourth place. Lourembam finished the race with a time of 4 hours 52 minutes while Erat reached the finish line at 4 hours 56 minutes on the clock.
While Saikhom, Mahesh and Pablo emerged out of the 1.9 kms swim together, it was Likith SP – international medallist in swimming who was the first to get out of the water at 25 minutes from the flag-off time. He was over 5 minutes ahead of the rest of the pack.
Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant cheered the participants emerge out of the sea swim at Miramar beach. He was also joined by Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil, flag officer, commanding Naval Area. “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 for sports tourism and we will continue to promote such events to be held here,” stated Dr PramodSawant, Chief Minister, Government of Goa.
Meanwhile, in the women’s category, six times IRONMAN world champion, Natascha Badman, lived up to her billing and came first in 5:18:49 hrs, Puvilin Kahandawala ( Sri Lanka) came second in 6:07:34 hrs and Natalie Edwards of Australia third in 6:08:31 hrs.
In the team event category, Delhi’s Juggernauts comprising AditDahiya (swim), Yashish Dahiya (cycling) and Pankkaj Dhiman (run) finished first.
Yashish Dahiya, 47, CEO of Policy Bazaar is a veteran triathlete who has earlier participated in full-distance IRONMAN events across the world.
