First Vietnamese woman to win 'world's toughest' triathlon

Vu Phuong Thanh has become the first Vietnamese to win Swiss Ultra Deca Continuous Triathlon World Championship - the toughest triathlon competition in the world.

Vu Phuong Thanh cycles during the competition. (Photo: SwissUltra)

Thanh finished first in the women’s category in the event which ended in Switzerland on August 29, clocking 328 hours 27 minutes and 55 seconds, about an hour faster than her closest rival, a French.

First Vietnamese woman to win 'world's toughest' triathlon hinh anh 2Vu Phuong Thanh celebrates her victory with the Vietnamese national flag at the Swiss Ultra Deca Continuous Triathlon World Championship on August 28. (Photo SwissUltra)

There were 23 athletes worldwide taking part in the tournament, in which they must complete 38km swimming, 1,800km cycling and 422km running. Thanh was the only representative of Vietnam at the event.

Born in 1990 in Hanoi, she is known as "the girl who runs around the world", or "desert rose".

In 2016, she became the first Asian to run through the four harshest deserts in the world with a total distance of 1,000km, namely the Atacama Desert in Chile, Gobi Desert in China, Sahara Desert in North Africa, and the Antarctica Desert in Antarctica./.

VNA