Hot into her debut at the 2019 Wenzhou ITU Multisport World Cup, Allison Yee Phui Se finished third in the Duathlon’s Elite Women category in China recently.

It was the first-ever edition of the Multisport World Cup, a pioneering tier of events for ITU which had athletes competing in a Long Distance Triathlon (Swim 2km – Bike 80km – Run 20km) and a Duathlon (Run 5 km – Bike 30 km – Run 5km) race.

Tang Zhilin (China) won the Duathlon race, followed by both Malaysia’s Elite Women Mariana Mohammad and Allison completing the podium.

The Duathlon started at 930am, a little later than the typical flag off time in Malaysia with raising temperatures and humidity increasing the challenge for the athletes. The Kuantan-born lass was placed third into the first run, trailing after the China and Singapore athletes.

“I kept the pace and not to kill myself in the first run and save some juice for the bike and second run,” said Allison.

After a quick transition, the 23-year old Duathlete pedalled up a steep climb and onto the main route which introduced beautiful scenery along the coast and rolling hills on the island. She worked together with the Singaporean until the end of bike leg, taking turns to work in the draft-legal race.

“I surged off the last hill and quickly broke away from her and ran all out for the last 5km to top it off with third place, one minute behind Mariana,” said Allison jubilantly.

Flying the Malaysian flag high, it was a good outing for Allison recording a podium-finish in her first ITU race, yet learning more about herself to improve on future races.

“As my bike is not as strong compared to my run, I will need to put more effort to improve my bike performance especially in sustaining power and climbing.”

Photos provided by AllisonYee.