Born in Taiwan and now living in Northern California, Yu holds the record for the fastest time in an Ironman 70.3 event by a Taiwanese triathlete. He achieved that honor with a personal best time of 3:58:53 at the 2020 Ironman 70.3 Taiwan event. Yu balances a pro triathlon career with his work as a mechanical design engineer in Silicon Valley, and his determination and grit has earned him respect from his peers in the endurance sport community. One example of Yu's never-quit attitude came at the 2014 Ironman 70.3 Vineman in California. Yu crashed on his bike 20 miles in, injuring his knee with several lacerations. Refusing to give in, he fought on to finish in the top-10 with a time of 4:09:23. You can follow Yu on Instagram or Facebook, or check out his website for more.
Team | Triathlon |
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Hometown | Hsinchu, Taiwan |
Resides | Cupertino, California |
Born | March 15, 1990 |
Top Results | 2021: Ironman 70.3 Kenting (Taiwan) champion 2020: Ironman 70.3 Taiwan champion (Taiwanese 70.3 record, 3:58:53); 11th at Ironman Florida (Taiwanese record, 8:36:05) 2019: 12th at Ironman 70.3 St. George, Utah; Chicago Marathon 2:26:05 |
Goals for 2021 | Stay healthy, get better at swimming, break 3:50 in 70.3 events, and qualify for 2022/2023 Ironman World Championships. |
Favorite bike | Trinity Advanced Pro, it's a rocket! |
Favorite event | Wildflower Long Course in California. It’s got the craziest bike course with the roughest roads, crazy hills, crosswinds, and the most epic run course mostly on trail. Reminds me of running around my hometown trails in Cupertino. |
How did you start in triathlon? | I joined triathlon club in UCLA during my first year of college and fell in love with the grassroots atmosphere of the sport: seeing people with mountain bikes or 20-year-old road bike just hammering in races is really inspiring. |
What do you carry on a long ride? | Nowadays, a mask, hand sanitizer, credit card and cash. Three Clif Bars, 2-3 Maurten gels, 3x 24oz bottle of water, phone. |
Indoor cycling or brave winter cold? | Depends on how bad it is but I live in California so I have to say brave the winter conditions. |
Favorite place to train | Cupertino, California |
Dream vacation spot | Never been, but would love to go to Girona, Spain |
Films or TV you love | Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, Ocean’s 13, and Dark Knight Rises |
Favorite book | Draft Animals by Phil Gaimon (I can relate to a lot of struggles that struggling aspiring pro athletes have trying to prove themselves the ranks, super inspiring) |
Words to live by | A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways as they’re capable of understanding. - Steve Prefontaine |