Just a couple of years ago, it seemed impossible for any Maltese triathlete to achieve the dream of qualifying for the World Ironman Championship. It felt like a pie in the sky for the members of the local triathlon community, no matter how hard they tried. However the spell has been broken in 2013 with Dermot Galea making the historical move and represent Malta at the Ironman World Championships in October that year. Fast forward to this this year and the Maltese Triathlon Federation can boast of its members David Galea qualifying to the World Championships in the full distance while Hannah Pace and Rudolph Agius managed to qualify for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships which will be held in he first weekend of September in Gold Coast, Australia.
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The triathlon CV of Rudolph Agius is not an extensive one but surely a most spectacular rise. Attracted to triathlon about 8 years ago for photographic reasons rather than competitive one, Rudolph soon got the tri-bug and started to take part in triathlons with some very remarkable results. In fact, Agius soon established himself as one of the topmost triathletes on the island and found himself a place in the National Triathlon Team, where he competed in the Triathlon Championships of the Small States of Europe which were held in Luxembourg in 2012.
Rudolph soon started to specialise in middle and long distance triathlons. In the past four years he completed a staggering amount of such endurance races : 4 Ironman Triathlons in Zurich and Frankfurt, 2 Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in France and Spain and in the last four national Long-Distance National Championships. In the local race, Rudolph established the Race-Course Record in 2014 and was the First Maltese and National Long-Distance Champion in 2016.
The spur of the Maltese success gave Agius a great boost as he raced the race of his live in the week after and obtained the qualification to the coveted Ironman 70.3 World Championship which will be held in Australia in 6 weeks' time. For this efforts and results, Agius was rewarded by the World Triathlon Corporation with the Silver AWA badge in recognition of being among the best 5% triathletes on a global level.
When contacted soon after this successful performance, Agius was ecstatic. 'This is a dream come true, not only for me but also for all does who support me and believe in my ability that one day, I will make this a reality. I have been training hard and long for the past handful of years and this qualification is the sum of all those sacrifices that I put in everyday ,with ever swim, bike-ride and run. However, I am not going out to Australia feeling accomplished. I know I will have to face some of the world's toughest long-distance triathletes and I want to be on top to make the performance of a lifetime. Whatever the outcome, I will definitely make the most out of it and will give all I have until I cross the finish line.'
To make this happen, Agius relies on a supporting team without whom his ventures would not be possible. Agius thanked wholeheartedly the Malta Triathlon Federation as well as his sponsors : Attard Bros Group , BigMat Malta , Nectar Group , Rocs Group , Emirates , The Cyclist - Scott bike , Garmin Malta , Derek Stafrace physiotherapist.
Rudolph soon started to specialise in middle and long distance triathlons. In the past four years he completed a staggering amount of such endurance races : 4 Ironman Triathlons in Zurich and Frankfurt, 2 Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in France and Spain and in the last four national Long-Distance National Championships. In the local race, Rudolph established the Race-Course Record in 2014 and was the First Maltese and National Long-Distance Champion in 2016.
The spur of the Maltese success gave Agius a great boost as he raced the race of his live in the week after and obtained the qualification to the coveted Ironman 70.3 World Championship which will be held in Australia in 6 weeks' time. For this efforts and results, Agius was rewarded by the World Triathlon Corporation with the Silver AWA badge in recognition of being among the best 5% triathletes on a global level.
When contacted soon after this successful performance, Agius was ecstatic. 'This is a dream come true, not only for me but also for all does who support me and believe in my ability that one day, I will make this a reality. I have been training hard and long for the past handful of years and this qualification is the sum of all those sacrifices that I put in everyday ,with ever swim, bike-ride and run. However, I am not going out to Australia feeling accomplished. I know I will have to face some of the world's toughest long-distance triathletes and I want to be on top to make the performance of a lifetime. Whatever the outcome, I will definitely make the most out of it and will give all I have until I cross the finish line.'
To make this happen, Agius relies on a supporting team without whom his ventures would not be possible. Agius thanked wholeheartedly the Malta Triathlon Federation as well as his sponsors : Attard Bros Group , BigMat Malta , Nectar Group , Rocs Group , Emirates , The Cyclist - Scott bike , Garmin Malta , Derek Stafrace physiotherapist.