World-class timings

"To be honest, the level of competition is really strong. A lot of the competitors have world-class timings."

For him, it is more important to better his personal timing, which currently stands at 1 hour 3 mins.

For his event, he has to swim 750m, cycle 20km and run 5km.

The stiffest competition, he thinks, will come from traditional powerhouses France, Germany, Australia and the US, where the best athletes usually go under 55 mins.

"The top triathletes in every continent are going to be here. Everyone is good enough to get a gold medal."

His coach Eugene Lee, 32, agreed.

"It's going to be one straight line at the finishing point," he said, referring to the razor- thin margins in the standards of the competitors.

Scott hopes to learn as much as possible from his experience at the YOG.

"Let's not get cocky, because the competition is really tough.

"I'm just going to do my best and enjoy the race."

This article was first published in The New Paper.