Howdy Athletes, please welcome Darren Ho from Singapore, who is now registered for IRONSTAR 226 SOCHI 2017!
He will be the fist, and probably the only athlete representing Singapore in Sochi!
His coach, Tatjana Ivanova, has been working with Darren for more than a year. Last year, Darren finished his first Ironman. The big objective for Darren and his coach is to qualify for Ironman World Championships.
Tatjana will be helping us as well – starting in April, every two months, we will publish her training plans for Sochi 226, for the beginners and advanced athletes.
Tatjana has a vast coaching and athletic experience: she is a certified Ironman coach and Elite Level Long Distance Triathlon coach with German Triathlon Union. She is an official coach of triathlon academy of legendary coach Brett Sutton and also a Level 2 (highest) coach with TrainingPeaks. She finished 16 Ironmans, including two times Ironman World Championships. In 2003 she was the first Russian woman to finish World Championships.
Tatjana and Darren will be updating us on Darren´s journey to Sochi, and on how he is training in so distant (and so tiny) Singapore.
And now, we would like to share Darren´s motivating story – he is looking forward to racing in Olympic Sochi!
“I used to be 150kg, was pre-diabetic, a failing liver and was diagnosed as being clinically obese. After I witnessed my uncle pass away due to the same neglect to his health, I decided to make a change and to turn my life around. More than that, I wanted to go down this path of triathlons and ultra-endurance to inspire those around me to find themselves again and re-discover themselves and to become better versions of themselves, to keep challenging themselves and to never give up.
Since then, I lost have of my weight, and now I'm en-route to completing at least 5 long form triathlons and other Olympic distance triathlons as well.
To be able to compete where the Olympics was held has always been a dream and although not as an Olympic athlete, I would still be representing my country. I believe that the IronStar race would also test my limits once again as well as put me against the best triathletes in Russia that will keep me honest to where I stand on a global stage. To be able to travel halfway around the world to compete in this race is truly a dream come true!
Hopefully this story will inspire others that they can achieve what they want as long as they put their minds to it.”
