LANGKAWI, Oct 13 — Despite having to endure pain to reach the finish line of the Malaysian Ironman Championship due to being hit by a fallen tree branch, Muar Member of Parliament Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman managed to finish his maiden participation in more than 13 hours.

Syed Saddiq, 31, who is also the former Youth and Sports Minister, managed to complete all three disciplines, namely swimming for 3.8 kilometres (km), cycling for 180km and running for 42.2km.

“Prior to the incident, heavy rain and thunderstorm had caused the tree to fall and block the entire road... At that time, I was doing cycling and there was an athlete on my right.

“At the same time, the car passed there, so I wouldn’t want to push the athlete. At that time, the route was also downhill and the speed was within 30 kilometres per hour, so I couldn’t do anything,” he said when met at the finish line of the Ironman Malaysia Championship here yesterday.

He said when he fell down, the first thing that crossed his mind was if the incident would be the end of his race and whether he would be able to finish the race but was determined to complete the remaining cycling discipline.

“My mother did not teach me to give up, but during the run it was very painful... When I fell off the bike, my body was bruised and right leg hurt due to the impact of hitting a tree branch, so it was difficult to maintain the momentum.

“In my mind, I just wanted to finish this tournament even though I lost about 30 minutes due to the incident, but I am still grateful that there is no broken bone... There were bruises and bleeding but that is normal,” he said.

Syed Saddiq, who was greeted by his mother, Shariffah Mahani Syed Abdul Aziz, 64, and his father, Syed Abdul Rahman Abdullah, 71, upon arriving at the finish line, said he dedicated the Ironman Malaysia medal to both of them for their unwavering support.

“This is also a gift for my father in conjunction with his birthday on Oct 31, those who educated me to be a fighter...Thank you also to all the volunteers who were quick to help me during the incident, they were quick to provide first aid by pulling out the thorns one by one from my body.

“Although the incident happened in my maiden race, I am 110 per cent sure I will participate in the Ironman Langkawi next year,” he said. — Bernama