Birkirkara St Joseph’s Michelle Vella Wood wrote a new page in the history of Maltese triathlon earlier this month by becoming the first ever local triathlete to claim a podium place in an Ironman event.

Vella Wood has just taken part in the IronMan Kalmar in Sweden and, despite the poor weather, she succeeded in registering a remarkable finish time of 10 hours, 30 minutes and 28 seconds.

The effort was good enough for her to place third in her age group category and 16th overall from 285 participants in the women’s race.

Vella Wood swan 3.8 kilometres in 1:28.00, placing herself second in the age-group race and 19th woman overall.

Following a fast transition, she sat off on a 180-kilometre bike portion that was characterised with strong headwinds and heavy rain along the route.

However, the Birkirkara SJ triathlete minimised the impact of the adverse conditions, finishing the bike segment in 5:46.16.

In the provisional standings, Vella Wood slipped to 4th in her category and 35th female overall.

Indeed, her previous efforts in the swim and bike did not augur well ahead of the remaining 42-kilometre run.

However, following an un-steady start, Vella Wood regained composure to finish the marathon in 3:37.53, climbing 19 places in the process and finishing a remarkable third in her age-group and 16th overall in the women’s race.

The result was another important milestone both for Vella Wood and Birkirkara St Joseph whose triathletes this past year have excelled on local and foreign soil.