Temperatures hovering around 40C characterised the Austria Ironman race in Klagenfurt held recently but Maltese triathlete Fabio Spiteri was undaunted by the conditions as he went on to achieve a personal best time over the distance that included a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and a 42.2km run.

As temperatures soared, there were many who dropped out, particularly in the run segment and that included race favourite Philip Graves, of Britain.

Reuben Degiorgio, John Cassar, Anthony Fenech and Alan Farrugia were also in Austria for race.

It was their first over the long distance but all four made the finish gantry despite the challenging conditions.

For the first time in the race’s 14-year history, organisers introduced a rule which said that the swim segment was to take place without wetsuits.

Spiteri was seeking to go below the 9:52:50 target but with no wetsuit his bid looked in jeopardy as his swim was eight minutes slower than his previous best time in the same lake.

Moreover, Spiteri was penalised in the cycle segment for a drafting infringement, costing him yet another six minutes and his dreams of a PB seemed dashed at this juncture.

The marathon was going to be decisive. Driven by sheer determination to achieve his goal, coupled with the great support of spectators, Spiteri did the run in 3 hours 26 minutes, thus completing the race in 9:52.30, shaving off 20 seconds from his previous PB and coming home 83rd in a field of around 2,700 starters.

“Despite all the setbacks on the day, I still succeeded in achieving my goal,” Spiteri said.

“Endurance racing requires a lot of commitment and support that was forthcoming not only from my loved ones and friends but also my sponsors, Garmin and Ice Watch.

“Without this backing I would not be in a position to keep on racing.”