Saiyami Kher on being first Indian actress to complete Ironman Triathlon: ‘Was not chasing that’

Saiyami Kher became the first Indian actress to complete the toughest triathlon: Ironman. In an interview, she talks to us about achieving the milestone.

After Milind Soman, Saiyami Kher has become the first Indian actress to complete the toughest triathlon in the world: Ironman Race. While she admits not a lot of female stars take up the challenges, she was not chasing this milestone.

Saiyami Kher recently competed in the toughest triathlon in the world: Ironman Race.

She was in Berlin to compete in the toughest triathlon in the world: Ironman, which was held in September. She created history by becoming the first Bollywood female actor to participate in and complete the said Ironman 70.3, which includes a 1.9 km swim, 90 km bike ride, and a 21.1 km run, all completed back-to-back without breaks.

On being the first Indian actress to do it

After the race, Saiyami is enjoying all the love and appreciation coming her way.

When asked about creating history, the actor tells us, “I was never chasing that. It just happened. I know Milind was the actor who completed it. But I am the first actress to do it”.

“That’s because of our profession, with the timings... If you are working in an office, you know your timings are from like 9:00 to 6:00, following which you can train. But when you are an actor, there are days when you are working for 14 days. Some days there are night shifts, and some days are 14 hours long. So, it is very chaotic on the body when you're an actor. I'm really proud that I managed to do it with all my schedules,” she added.

However, she hopes that her achievement could act as a source of inspiration for others. “I hope it inspires other actresses to take on this challenge and fulfill it. In fact, not only actresses, I hope this motivates people. Because in the end, it is not about being an actor... I hope more women do it because the percentage of women doing it is not so much,” says the Ghoomer actor.

When it comes to preparing for the race, Saiyami underwent an intense process to get better at running, swimming and cycling. She believes that she has influenced a lot of people to “start running”.

What’s next for Saiyami

Saiyami spent over six months training for the triathlon. And she is not planning to take it slow. The actor already has eyes on her next goal.

“Right now, I'm completing a film. Then, I want to start training again for a full marathon first. I will be doing that next year. That's on the card. I want to better my timing for the race because this time I wasn't keeping a check on the timing at all. I just want to enjoy it and finish it. So now the next time I do it, I will aim to improve on the time,” she ends.