KUALA LUMPUR: Popular social media influencer Ann Pow produced a dominating performance to win the 113 Desaru International Triathlon in Johor on Sunday.
The 28-year-old, who promotes triathlon on social media, completed the 2km swim, 90km bike ride, and 21km run with a time of five hours, 21 minutes, and 49 seconds (5:21:49).
Ann, who represented Malaysia in duathlon at the 2022 Sea Games in Hanoi, crossed the finish line ahead of Singapore's Yen Chan (5:51:47) and Fiona Lim (5:59:31).
"It was really a good race. Everything went smoothly today," said Ann, who has 233,000 followers on Instagram.
"I didn't set any big expectations for this competition, so I was quite surprised to achieve this result. I was satisfied with my pace during the running leg.
"Despite the hilly terrain towards the end, I managed to maintain my usual speed of completing it below five minutes. I took this race seriously as it is part of my preparations for the Langkawi Ironman in October."
Ann, who usually starts her season by running in full marathons before switching to triathlons, added, "My goal is to keep improving my PBs as I want to be the fastest female triathlete in the country."
Last year, she participated in the Kona World Championships, where she recorded a new PB.
Meanwhile, Spanish triathlete Salvador Alacorn Alacio, who has competed in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii twice, dominated the men's event with a time of 5:03:39.
Andrew Patterson of the United States finished second with a time of 5:15:19, followed by Tan Kim Bok (5:24:03) — the best local male finisher in the race that started and ended at the Sand & Sandals Desaru Beach Resort and Spa.
For Alacio, Sunday's victory was a sign of redemption after his disappointing outing at the 70.3 Desaru Ironman two months ago.
"It is very gratifying. In May, I competed in the 70.3 Desaru Ironman but did not perform well as I had stomach problems," said Alacio.
"I've been in this region for a long time, so I thought I could handle the humidity better than other European athletes. However, I admit that even now, I still struggle with the heat here.
"I've been on the podium many times, but to emerge as the fastest overall feels quite special."
The Desaru International Triathlon, organised by Eventure Global with support from the Johor state government, Tourism Johor, Tourism Malaysia, the Youth and Sports Ministry, and the Triathlon Association of Malaysia, also featured three other categories: Olympic Distance (1.5km swim-40km bike ride-10km run), Sprint (750m swim-20km bike ride-5km run), and Super Sprint (300m swim-10km bike ride-2km run).
This year's competition attracted around 500 participants from 25 countries.