36-year-old Singaporean dies in triathlon in Portugal
A 36-year-old Singaporean man died after encountering difficulties during a triathlon event in Portugal on October 15.
The man, identified by Lianhe Zaobao as Derrick Tee, was participating in the Ironman Portugal-Cascais race. Cascais is a coastline town in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
In a statement posted on its Facebook page, Ironman Portugal confirmed the death of a race participant during the triathlon, which comprised a 1.9km swim, 90km bicycle ride and 21km run.
“During the swim portion of Saturday’s race, the athlete required and received medical assistance before being transported from the event,” it said.
“Despite best medical efforts, the athlete passed in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. We share our greatest sympathies with the family and friends of the athlete and will continue to offer them our support as they go through this very difficult time.
“We thank the swim safety personnel and first responders who worked quickly to provide the athlete with medical support.”
According to the Ironman website, Tee was the only Singaporean participating in the race, which reportedly featured 4,800 participants.
Lianhe Zaobao reported that the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Singapore in Lisbon is assisting the family of the deceased.
According to information on the triathlon website CoachCox, Tee had participated in six other Ironman races between 2016 and 2019, in Vietnam, Philippines, Sydney (twice) and Bintan (twice).
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