Rudolph Agius Qualifies for the Ironman World Championship in Kona

Rudolph Agius managed to qualify for the Ironman World Championship to be held on the 13th October 2018 in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i.  Considered to be triathlon’s most iconic event, Agius will be Malta's only third athlete to race Kona, following the participation of Dermot Galea and David Galea in the last 5 years. 
 
Agius secured his qualification with an impressive placing in Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt held on the 8th July 2018.  He finished in fifteenth place out of 464 triathletes in his category.  Two of the triathletes placing in the top fifteen were already qualified, paving the way for the Birkirkara triathlete to compete in Kona.
 
In this year’s Ocean Lava Malta long distance triathlon, Agius placed second.  This race was the culmination of his preparations for the qualifying race in Frankfurt, where he knew he will be facing stiff opposition from some of Europe’s top triathletes in his category.
 
Asked about his participation and the result he will be looking for in the world’s most iconic triathlon event, Agius said that his target was to better the result he obtained in the European Championships in Germany and to get the highest placing possible.  Referring to his intensive training regime in preparation for Kona, the Birkirkara St. joseph Triathlete said that following a short break on his return to Germany, he will embark on a tough 5-hour a day training programme, packing in three sessions daily.  He emphasised the need to be fully focused in his preparations, in order to be at his peak come the big day. Out of the three triathlon disciplines, Agius mentions cycling as the most challenging, where he has to spend long hours cycling in a country as small as Malta. In fact he is planning to do his longer cycling sessions abroad.
 
Agius emphasized that his endeavours would not have been possible without the assistance of his family, the Malta Triathlon Federation, his club Birkirkara St. Joseph and his sponsors namely Attard Brothers Group, Big Mat Malta, Nectar Group, The Cyclist, Garmin, Rocks Group and his masseur Derek Stafrace.

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Rudolph Agius during Transition and during the run at the ironman Frankfurt 2018, where he managed to fulfil his dream of qualifying for the Ironman World Championships in Kona.