Triathlete Fabio Spiteri has recently returned from yet another successful participation in Klagenfurt – the Austria Ironman event – a triathlon race consisting of a 3.8Km swim, 180Km cycle and 42.2Km run.

Before the start of the race, it was evident that this event would be challenging as temperatures soared into the 40s. For the first time in its 14-year history, the swim was scheduled to take place without a wetsuit. As the temperature hit 42 degrees, several athletes dropped out in the run segment, including the race favourite, Briton Philip Graves, who at one point was leading.

As this was Fabio’s second participation in this race, his target was improving his previous time of 9:52:50; however the fact that no wetsuits were allowed in the race slowed him down in the swim, achieving a time which was eight minutes slower than his previous time in the same lake.

Moving on to the 180km hilly bike segment, Fabio was seeing his dream of a personal best time being shattered as he was penalised for a drafting infringement (being too close to another cyclist), costing him yet another six minutes.

The 42.2Km run which immediately follows the 3.8Km swim and the 180Km cycle was going to make or break the timing. Driven by his determination to achieve a personal best time, coupled with the great support of spectators, some of whom showered athletes with water from their gardens to keep cool, Fabio completed the marathon in 3 hours 26 minutes, thus completing the race in 9 hours 52 minutes and 30 seconds, shaving off 20 seconds from his previous time, achieving his dream of a personal best result and achieving 83rd position in a field of 2,700 athletes.

Triathletes Ruben Degiorgio, John Cassar, Anthony Fenech and Alan Farrugia also successfully completed the race, it being their first full Ironman distance participation.