Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/707940
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 JULY 2016 ATHLETICS Rudolph Agius makes it to the World Ironman 70.3 Triathlon Championship Just a couple of years ago, it seemed impossible for any Mal- tese triathlete to achieve the dream of qualifying for the World Ironman Championship. It felt like pie in the sky for the members of the local triathlon community, no matter how hard they tried. However the spell has been broken in 2013 with Der- mot Galea making the historical move and represent Malta at the Ironman World Championships in October that year. Fast for- ward to this year and the Maltese Triathlon Federation can boast of its members David Galea quali- fying to the World Champion- ships in the full distance while Hannah Pace and Rudolph Agius managed to qualify for the Iron- man 70.3 World Championships which will be held in the first weekend of September in Gold Coast, Australia. The triathlon CV of Rudolph Agius is not an extensive one but surely a most spectacular rise. Attracted to triathlon about eight years ago for photographic reasons rather than competi- tive ones, Rudolph soon got the tri-bug and started to take part in triathlons with some very re- markable results. In fact, Agius soon established himself as one of the topmost triathletes on the island and found himself a place in the National Triathlon Team, where he competed in the Triath- lon Championships of the Small States of Europe which were held in Luxembourg in 2012. Rudolph soon started to spe- cialise in middle and long dis- tance triathlons. In the past four years he completed a stagger- ing amount of such endurances races : 4 Ironman Triathlons in Zurich and Frankfurt, 2 Iron- man 70.3 Triathlons in France and Spain and in the last four national Long-Distance National Championships. In the local race, Rudolph established the Race- Course Record in 2014 and was the First Maltese and National Long-Distance Champion in 2016. The spur of the Maltese suc- cess gave Agius a great boost as he raced the race of his live in the week after and obtained the qualification to the coveted Iron- man 70.3 World Championship which will be held in Australia in 6 weeks' time. For this efforts and results, Agius was rewarded by the World Triathlon Corpora- tion with the Silver AWA badge in recognition of being among the best 5% triathletes on a global level. When contacted soon after this successful performance, Agius was ecstatic. 'This is a dream come true, not only for me but also for all does who support me and believe in my ability that one day, I will make this a reality. I have been training hard and long for the past handful of years and this qualification is the sum of all those sacrifices that I put in everyday ,with ever swim, bike- ride and run. However, I am not going out to Australia feeling ac- complished. I know I will have to face some of the world's tough- est long-distance triathletes and I want to be on top to make the performance of a lifetime. What- ever the outcome, I will definitely make the most out of it and will give all I have until I cross the finish line.' To make this happen, Agius re- lies on a supporting team with- out whom his ventures would not be possible. Agius thanked wholeheartedly the Malta Tri- athlon Federation as well as his sponsors : Attard Bros Group , BigMat Malta , Nectar Group , Rocs Group , Emirates , The Cy- clist - Scott bike , Garmin Malta , Derek Stafrace physiotherapist. Ecclestone's mother-in-law 'kidnapped' BERNIE Ecclestone's mother-in- law has been kidnapped in Brazil, with a ransom of 120 million Bra- zilian Reals (£28m) demanded by criminals, local reports state. Aparecida Schunck, the 67-year- old mother of Ecclestone's third wife, Fabiana Flosi, was kidnapped in the Interlagos area on Friday, Veja and Globo have reported. According to the reports, kid- nappers have demanded that the R$120 million ransom, the largest sum in Brazilian history, be paid in pounds sterling and divided into four bags. Formula 1 supremo Ecclestone married Flosi in 2012, three years after the pair met when she was working at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which is held at the Interlagos circuit. Brazil is set to host the Olympic Games from August 5-21. FORMULA 1