KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman today took responsibility for an "honest” mistake that saw him being awarded third place in a recent triathlon, which was deleted after allegations of irregularity.

In an Instagram post hours after he sought to address the allegations of cheating, Syed Saddiq said he spoke to the organisers and technical representatives to have his race result listed as "DNF” or Did Not Finish.

"After cross referencing this with my I watch data, there clearly was a mistake.

"And I take full responsibility for it. This was an honest mistake on my part,” he said.

Syed Saddiq previously posted on Instagram a picture of him holding a third place trophy from the 113 Triathlon Desaru 2024 event held between July 6 and 7.

His time from the event was called into question, specifically his performance in the three biking loops totalling 90km, which led some commenters to suggest he likely only completed two loops or 60km.

He said that while he cross-checked the information with the technical team, the responsibility for the fault was also his.

He then offered an unreserved apology to the triathlon community for the incident, adding that he would be more cautious with the sport in which he was a newcomer.