Maria Vella-Galea

 

Recently crowned Maltese National Triathlon champion Graham Borg closed off a successful 2017 season when his performance at the Gloria Ironman 70.3 Triathlon in Turkey saw him secure his place at 2018 Ironman 70.3 world championships.

The Ironman 70.3 distance includes a 1.9km swim, a 90km cycle and a 21-kilometre run. 

Borg qualified for the world championships after placing second in his age group, and twelfth overall, when he clocked a time of 4 hours 21 minutes. 

With this timing, Borg also registered a new national record for this distance. Borg's result comes a week after having secured his first National Triathlon champion title.

Borg's season this year saw him win the Birkirkara St. Joseph Sprint Triathlon Series as well as the Sprint Triathlon National title as well asa gold medal in his age group at the Vattenfall World Triathlon in Stockholm earlier on in September.  Borg's results in the various distances show that he has mastered the art of being an all-rounder.

 "Despite having raced hard in the National Championships, just a week before, I felt strong.  Conditions on race day were relatively good with just a slight wind. The higher than expected temperatures saw us race a non-wetsuit swim.  With the bike segment, normally being my forte, I gave a good show and kept the momentum going to finish with a strong half marathon to finish second in my category and automatic qualification for the world championships," explained Borg. "This is the second time that I qualified for such championships and I am delighted at being able to represent Malta in South Africa next year."

Borg is now focusing on his plans for next year, which include a number of Ironman 70.3 and Ironman distances with a focus on attempting qualification for Ironman world championships in Kona, Hawaii.

Malta was also represented by Josef Bonavia who placed seventh in his age group category and also qualified for the world championships as well as Andre Cutajar who also produced a very good performance.