No Sponsor, So This Year\'s Ironman Langkawi Cancelled

This year's Ironman Langkawi Malaysia Triathlon has been cancelled due sponsorship problem.Its director, Datuk A. Chandrakumanan, said the organiser would try to hold the championship next year. The championship was to enter its 12th edition this year."The organiser, Syarikat Ironman Malaysia Sdn Bhd, needs RM3 million to hold the event."The company is not able to meet the rising cost so we asked the Youth and Sports Ministry to take over as the organiser but have not received positive feedback," he told Bernama.The organiser had no choice but to cancel the event this year due to time constraint in looking for sponsors and in finding a slot in the World Ironman calendar, he added.He said that the company would have to pay RM1 million to the ironman's rights holder, World Triathlon Cooperation (WTC), to organise the Langkawi Ironman."I will meet the Youth and Sports Ministry to ensure that the championship can be held next year," he said.The Langkawi Ironman involves 3.8km of swimming, 180.2km of cycling and 42km of running. The championship is one of the qualifying rounds for the world ironman championship in Kona, Hawaii.The Langkawi Ironman was supposed to be held in February this year.