Perak Triathlon Association President Dr Khoo Peng Chuan giving away the prizes to the winners of a category at the Asia Triathlon Cup in Batu Gajah over the weekend.
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Triathlon Association should convince the National Sports Council (NSC) to have more international triathlon events to unearth talents following the successful staging of the Asia Triathlon Cup (ATC) in Batu Gajah, Perak over the weekend.
Perak Triathlon Association President Dr Khoo Peng Chuan, the organising committee chairman of ATC, said the three-day event received overwhelming response where more than 400 participants competed in various men’s and women’s events.
Nearly 90 athletes from 25 countries participated in the elite male and female categories while a total of 327 participants competed in the Olympic Distance (OD) and Sprint Distance (SD) categories involving men’s and women’s events at various age-groups.
Peng Chuan said triathlon championships like ATC is a training ground to unearth the talents of local athletes.
"ATC is an ideal platform for national athletes to compete with international athletes who have vast experience. Over the weekend, we saw many young athletes who took the opportunity to participate in the SD category,” said Peng Chuan.
"For me, this is a very good exposure for them to gain more experience before they move up to a more competitive stage.
"So, through an event like ATC, we are preparing the athletes for the next level and hopefully we can mould more triathletes for Malaysia.
"Although this is the first time we have organised such a large scale event but I must say that it was well organised in every aspect. In fact, the triathletes participation from five continents including Asia was an accomplishment."
