AN 18-year-old woman who was the youngest person to take part in the Ironman UK Bolton says taking part was “the best achievement" of her life.

Charlie Taktak, from Moss Bank, took up triathlons a few years ago and joined St Helens Tri.

It has been her ambition to do an Ironman event and, alongside her proud mum and dad Diane and Azzam Taktak, took part in the event last weekend.

She completed her first ever Ironman in 16 hours and three minutes. It was later announced that she was the youngest competitor to take part.

An Ironman is a long-distance triathlon, consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon run.

It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.

Charlie, who is hoping to be accepted into university to study mecatronic engineering, said: “I can’t honestly find the words to say how happy I am.

"This is the best achievement of my life so far.

"I don’t think anything I’ve done before has measured up to this moment, and if I needed anything to prove to myself that I’m a capable athlete (which I did), this is it.

“Thank you everyone for supporting me.”

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