After a two-year-long hiatus, the highly anticipated POWERMAN Malaysia Duathlon 2022 returned with a vengeance and took the sporting world by storm. With a whopping 4,300 record-breaking participants registered, this meant the Asian event clinched the World’s Largest Duathlon title, knocking the previous title holder, the London Duathlon, off the top of the podium.
With participants from over 35 countries worldwide, this coveted world series duathlon saw 15% of athletes from countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan, race the 80km course at Dataran Putrajaya on 29th and 30th October 2022. With a run-bike-run format, the annual 17th edition duathlon saw participants pushing themselves to their limits on the physically demanding course as they ran, cycled and ran again to the finish line.
This year’s chapter of the world’s largest competitive duathlon event in Malaysia had Matt Smith from Australia topping first place for the Elite category with a total time of 02:40:58, beating UAE athlete Saud Alzaabi by less than 1 second in one of the most exciting sprint finishes ever seen in the sport. This year’s iconic finish location under the giant arch of Perbadanan Putrajaya was fittingly stunning for the best race climaxes that the event has ever seen.
The race categories comprised:
| EVENT | RUN | BIKE | RUN | INDIVIDUAL |
| POWERMAN CLASSIC | 10km | 60km | 10km | Elite / 18+ / Relay |
| POWERMAN SHORT | 5km | 30km | 5km | 18+ / Relay |
| POWERTEENS | 2km | 8km | 2km | 13-17 years old |
| POWERKIDS | 1km | 4km | 1km | 9-12 years old |
| 0.5km | 1km | 0.5km | 5-8 years old |
With individual, team and relay categories available for the professionals, beginners and those in between, the event saw a diverse range of participants made up of a wide variety of ages, nationalities and backgrounds competing over a two-day duration according to the respective categories. All finishers proudly earned a finisher medal and a finisher T-shirt and an e-certificate as a reward for their fantastic physical accomplishment.
“I would like to thank all of our participants as well as everyone who has helped make this event a success. I’m sure many of you have been excitedly looking forward to the return of POWERMAN which was unfortunately put on hold for two years, due to the pandemic. That said, we are proud to see the overwhelming responses and together, we lead the way into the next chapter of POWERMAN Malaysia’s story with this 17th edition duathlon,” said Jeffrey Ross, General Manager of Fresh Events Asia Sdn Bhd.
He added that this year’s event will continue on as the Asia Championship Race and is also an Asia Triathlon-sanctioned Middle-Distance Championships in the 10-60-10 category. “I know for some of you it is all about achieving personal bests and breaking records but for others, it is merely the joy of participating that matters. But no matter what the reasons were, I was indeed thrilled to see everyone giving their best and not giving up even as fatigue, cramp and the heat started setting in during the race. Congratulations once again to all the finishers and I hope to see you again next year!” he said.
POWERMAN has a long-standing history in Malaysia, 16 years’ worth of rich heritage and it is the premier event for duathlons. Malaysia has seen tremendous growth in running and cycling since 2002, and even more so during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. POWERMAN Malaysia is seen as the perfect platform for running and biking enthusiasts to test their combined skills, with the growing number of participants over the years proving a testament to that. This event has also been drawing international traffic and recognition year after year, bringing in tourists and athletes from all corners of the globe for this competition. POWERMAN has successfully put Malaysia on the map and is now one of the highly-anticipated events for both local and international duathlon fans. Putrajaya is widely regarded in the international sporting community as the best duathlon venue in the world.
POWERMAN Malaysia also looked towards the future with the PowerKids and PowerTeen races. Proud parents cheered from the sidelines as stars of the future, from the ages of 5 to 17, ran and cycled as hard as their adult counterparts to complete their respective courses on the first day of the event competition.
Aside from the race, a three-day Expo was also held at the concourse level of Auditorium Cempaka Sari. This Expo featured a diverse range of local and international industry partners showcasing their products to participants and supporters. There, participants were able to browse through official POWERMAN merchandise and the leading sporting and nutrition brands, such as Shimano, Hammer Nutrition, Garmin, aminoVITAL, Potatoes USA, Lazer, N8, Rudy Project, Reynolds, Gaerne and Coros.
For more details, visit www.powerman.my.