Exclusive: 'I was way more nervous this time', says Saiyami Kher on her second Ironman 70.3 feat
In September 2024,
Saiyami Kher
completed the toughest triathlon: Ironman 70.3, and if that wasn't enough, she went ahead and did it again. This makes her the first Indian actor to conquer Ironman 70.3 twice in a year.
Saiyami successfully completed her second-half Ironman on July 6 in Jönköping, Sweden. The race requires participants to swim 1.9 km of open water, cycle 90 km, and complete a 21.1 km half-marathon run all within a single day. Her time in Sweden came with additional challenges, including cold waters, relentless hills, and strong headwinds. But Saiyami managed to finish 32 minutes faster than last year.
Was she more confident this time around, given her experience last year? She told us from Sweden, 'I was actually way more nervous this time. Can't fathom why. Maybe because the race was way tougher.' When asked whether the triathlon would be a tradition going forward since she has done it twice, she replied, 'That I don't know, but every year, I definitely want to do one event that makes me feel good about myself. As a woman, it's additionally a big pain to do such a physically challenging activity with your period, but it's just a reminder that it's always mind over matter.
There's a strange, quiet pride in finishing something that once felt impossible. A deep joy.'
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Their burgeoning resources, thanks to a steady supply line fed by the 10 IPL teams, commitment to a fixed blueprint, enormous self-confidence, along with other factors, have ensured that the team has come a very, very long way indeed in the T20I scheme of things. And to think that they were initially reluctant to embrace T20 cricket.
