When did you start triathlon? 

I started at the end of 2022 - in September. 

Did you do any sports before?

I used to be a swimmer in a club but then I left and decided to try something new. 

Can you give us an overview of what your weekly training is like? 

I wake up around 5:30 - 6:15 every day, and my daily activities include either running, cycling or swimming. I train every morning and every evening except for Saturdays and Sundays, on which days I only train in the morning. It sums up to around 18 hours a week. 

What do you find the most difficult about triathlon?

I believe that it's a really complex sport because you have to be excellent at three individual sports. For me, I think being able to train in all three sports without pushing yourself too hard is probably the hardest part about being a triathlete. It’s about finding a balance between being the most efficient in your training while not exhausting yourself, something that I struggled with a bit at the beginning. 

When was the last time you had a doubt about your abilities?

You always doubt yourself, I always doubt myself. It's human, you know? Especially before big races, I always doubt my capabilities: “Can I do this? Can I not do this?” The moment I doubted myself the most was during the benchmarking in October 2024, when I had to swim a specific time to stay in the team and I really did not know if I was going to make it.

What gives you motivation to train so rigorously? 

I just like it. Sometimes, obviously, when it’s 5 : 30 in the morning, I just want to go back to bed, but in general I just love the grind. I love doing the actual training sessions, so I’d say that for my part, it’s not actually too hard to get motivated.

What are some recent events that you’ve participated in?

At the end of the 2024 season, I had a bunch of races. I had 3 very competitive ones in China, but my most important event this year by far was the 2024 Asian Youth Championships, which took place in Hong Kong. 

What would you say has been your proudest moment in your history of competing?

As we briefly mentioned before, I would say that it was my placing in the 2024 Youth Champs. Last year was my first year of competing in triathlon, because I started at the end of 2022, so I did not compete in 2022, only in 2023. At the end of the 2023 season, I had the 2023 Asian Youth Champs, and I actually had a pretty bad race. I had a pretty decent swim, but then I fell off my bike and my run was terrible. That was a really hard moment for me, because everyone else said I had a good race but I didn’t agree with them - I was really sad about how I had performed. So I told myself that in 2024, I had to make the podium. So when the 2024 Asian Youth Champs rolled around, just a few months ago, I was really nervous. Weeks and weeks before the race I was already stressing out - and I ended up getting first place. I’d say that it was my proudest moment because I did not only compete with my own category, the U-15, but also the U-17 category, and still got first place overall. 

Where do you see yourself in the future with sports?

That’s really hard to say, honestly. 2024 was my last year as a youth athlete, so I’m going to the junior category in 2025, which is a huge step. I guess right now I can’t really tell because I haven’t competed in the junior category yet - and there’s a huge gap between the two sections because the distance doubles. Obviously, the dream is the Olympics, but it's difficult to say at this stage. But yeah, I’d say that like most athletes, my biggest dream is getting to the Olympics and winning a medal.