KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's best duathlete Shahrom Abdullah, a former Asian number one, was among 740 duathletes from 30 countries who confirmed their participation for the Powerman Malaysia to be held in Seri Manjung, Perak on Nov 8.
He would be joined by another Malaysian, Wong Ah Tiam, and two-time winner Jason Spong of South Africa who is expected to defend his title.
"The three have confirmed their participation and so has defending women's champion Rebecca Preston from Australia," Malakoff Corporation Berhad Corporate Affairs and Communications head Yusop Rashid told reporters here Tuesday.
Since the inaugural Powerman Malaysia in 2002, Malakoff Corporation Berhad has been the primary sponsor of the event which had received tremendous response and support from world class duathletes.
"From 237 participants in 2002, entries have doubled over the years and last year 692 participants took part. This year is another record participation but we will however, limit entries to 800 as a quality control measure," he said.
The 2009 contest, offering RM130,000 in prize money, features running and cycling routines that will certainly be a test of the physical and mental endurance of participants in all three categories held - individual, relay and sprint.
The individual and relay (for two or three participants) comprise of a 11km run followed by a 64km bike ride and another 10km run while the sprint category is a 5.5km run followed by a 32km bike ride and a 5km run.
Race director Melody Tan said the top five winners in each category would earn a ticket to the Powerman World Championships in Zofingen, Switzerland in August next year.
So far, Shahrom is the only Malaysian to have qualified for the world championships and he competed in Switzerland on Sept 5, and finished the race within the allocated time.
Powerman Malaysia is part of the International Powerman Series and an International Powerman Association licenced race.
-- BERNAMA
Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
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