Rudolph Agius, Birkirkara St. Joseph’s top long-distance triathlete, successfully qualified for a coveted place in 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 the Saints’ second triathlete to race in Kona, following in the footsteps of the Club’s triathlon legend Dermot Galea who was the first Maltese to make it to Kona in 2013.
Agius secured his qualification with an impressive placing in Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt held earlier on this month. Agius 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 middle distance triathlon, Agius placed second. This race was the culmination of his preparations for the qualifying race in Frankfurt, where he knew he would be facing stiff opposition from some of Europe’s top triathletes in his category.
“My target was to better the result I obtained in the European Championships in Germany and to get the highest placing possible” explained Agius. Referring to his intensive training regime in preparation for Kona, the Birkirkara triathlete said that following a short break he will embark on a tough 5-hour a day training regime, packing in three sessions daily. Agius emphasized the need to be fully focused in his preparations, in order to be at his peak on the big day. Out of the three triathlon disciplines, Agius mentioned 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.
“All this is tough but this achievement would not be possible without the unwavering support of my family, the Malta Triathlon Federation, my Club Birkirkara St. Joseph and sponsors namely Attard Brothers Group, Big Mat Malta, Nectar Group, The Cyclist, Garmin, Rocks Group and masseur Derek Stafrace. This race will be for them!” concluded Agius.