PETALING JAYA: Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has admitted that a mistake at last weekend’s 113th Desaru 2024 Triathlon led to him placing third. His status in the triathlon has now been changed to “DNF” (did not finish).
“I have just received a detailed lap-by-lap breakdown at each checkpoint from the technical team.
“After comparing this with the data from my smartwatch, there was an error and I take full responsibility for it,” he said yesterday on X. Syed Saddiq said he received new data explaining that on the first lap of the bike course, he had ridden the Olympic race circuit instead of the triathlon circuit 113.
“It was an unintentional mistake on my part. Even though I noticed the problem during the race and reported it to the technical team, I should have been more responsible.”
Syed Saddiq offered his apologies to the triathlon community and added that he should have been more careful.
“I am a rookie and I hope to improve. After speaking with the organizers and the technical representative, it is best that my status is designated as DNF.
“They also acknowledged that it was an honest mistake,” he added.
Syed Saddiq previously denied cheating in the triathlon after an unknown social media account alleged he did not finish all three laps of the bike course and instead had only completed two.
“Throughout the race, I wore my ankle bracelet at all times, which (recorded time), and I passed all the checkpoints.
“When I realized that I had finished faster than expected on the bike course, I even checked with the technical team again.
“I specifically told the representative ‘Saya tak nak tipu ya’ (I don’t want to cheat), please verify,” he said in an earlier video shared on Instagram.
(tags for translation)Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman
