NextSharkNextShark.com

Female athlete becomes first Vietnamese to win the ‘world’s toughest’ triathlon

Female athlete becomes first Vietnamese to win the ‘world’s toughest’ triathlon

A female athlete has become the first Vietnamese competitor to win the Deca Ultra Triathlon World Championship at the Swissultra.

August 29, 2022
SHARE
A female athlete has become the first Vietnamese competitor to win the Deca Ultra Triathlon World Championship at the Swissultra in Switzerland on Sunday.
Considered the world’s toughest triathlon competition, the Swissultra covers 10 times the distance of a normal triathlon.
Vu Phuong Thanh, 32, finished first in the event’s female category after swimming 38 kilometers (approximately 23.61 miles), cycling 1,800 kilometers (approximately 1,118.46 miles) and running 422 kilometers (approximately 262.22 miles) over the span of 14 days. She completed the course in 328 hours 27 minutes 55 seconds and won a cash prize of 1,000 Euro (approximately $1,000). 
Thanh was the only representative from Vietnam in the extremely challenging event, which included only 23 international athletes: 19 men and four women.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter

A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.

Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.

Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.

“This was a very special experience indeed,” she was quoted as saying. “During the race, there were many athletes from many different countries. Athletes often exchanged, shared experiences and inspired each other. Cycling at night also made us feel very sleepy, so we rode and talked to each other.”
France’s Nadine Zacharias finished in second place in 329 hours, 27 minutes and 16 seconds. The other two women failed to complete the race.
According to Thanh, the president of the World Triathlon National Federations told her that “in the past 30 years, only around 100 people have completed the World Champion Deca Ultra Triathlon. It was certainly not easy to complete this event, sometimes it seemed like I couldn’t do it.”
Meanwhile, Belgium’s Kenneth Vanthuyne, who became champion of the men’s category, completed all categories in just eight days.
Born in Hanoi, Thanh has been referred to as Vietnam’s “Desert Rose,” or “The Girl Who Runs Around the World,” after becoming the first Asian to run through the four harshest deserts in the world — the Atacama Desert in Chile, the Gobi Desert in China, the Sahara Desert in North Africa and the Antarctica Desert in Antarctica — in 2016. 
 
Featured Image via @swissultra_triathlon
MOST READ
    HAPPENING NOW
      Ryan General

      Ryan General is a Senior Reporter for NextShark

      SHARE THIS ARTICLE:

      RELATED STORIES FROM NEXTSHARK

      Support
      NextShark's
      Journalism

      Many people might not know this, but NextShark is a small media startup that runs on no outside funding or loans, and with no paywalls or subscription fees, we rely on help from our community and readers like you.

      Everything you see today is built by Asians, for Asians to help amplify our voices globally and support each other. However, we still face many difficulties in our industry because of our commitment to accessible and informational Asian news coverage.

      We hope you consider making a contribution to NextShark so we can continue to provide you quality journalism that informs, educates, and inspires the Asian community. Even a $1 contribution goes a long way. Thank you for supporting NextShark and our community.

      © 2023 NextShark, Inc. All rights reserved.