Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has conceded that there was an error in his triathlon performance over the weekend, following his earlier defence of making the podium which raised questions.

Syed Saddiq said he had received a more detailed update about his performance during the cycling portion of the race, which when cross-checked with his tracking data finally revealed an error.

While he did complete the three loops, he said he accidentally took a shorter route on the third lap which cut down his time.

"This was an honest mistake on my part. Despite double-checking the problem during the race and notifying the technical team, still, as a participant, I should have been more responsible.

"I unreservedly apologise to the triathlon community," he said in a social media post this afternoon.

Syed Saddiq had initially won third place in the 113 Triathlon Desaru 2024 event held on July 6 and 7.

Netizen’s complaint

The issue arose when Syed Saddiq shared pictures of his participation in the 131km race, which comprised 2.25km swimming, 90km cycling, and 21.1km running, and expressed pride in finishing it in five hours and 44 minutes.

This prompted a netizen to question Syed Saddiq’s claim, alleging that the politician was behind him during the swimming leg of the race.

In response, the former youth and sports minister admitted that he did notice that his cycling time was too fast, but checks with the race organiser's technical team found no errors at the time.

Syed Saddiq stressed that his decision to join triathlons was not about winning medals or trophies but for his mental health and self-improvement.

“From being someone new to the triathlon community to completing my third 113km/half-distance race, it is truly a life-changing journey for me.

“The last thing I want is to hurt this wonderful vibrant community. I truly apologise if my actions caused any harm and genuinely want to get to the bottom of this,” he earlier said.

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