Sam Long sat back with pride on Sunday in Dubai after competing what he described as a ‘tenacious’ triathlon season.

‘The Big Unit’ came home in 10th place in the Grand Final in the desert, enough for him to claim sixth in the final Series standings.

It was another day where the 28-year-old American star was forced to make up ground after his weakest discipline – the swim – once again left him with much to do.

It was a familiar story in a gruelling 2024 for Long as he took on the world’s very best a distance which means the pace is always hot. He referenced that regular recovery battle he faced in a heartfelt post on his Instagram account.

Sam Long on 2024 season

Sam wrote: “Closed out my season with a 10th place finish @t100triathlon Dubai Yesterday. It was good enough for me to finish 6th in the series.

“I fought with everything I had. The inner strength required to surmount such big comebacks on 6 different occasions was enough to break me!

“This has been a tenacious year and I can gladly say I am the best version of myself I’ve ever been both as an athlete and person. I am proud of what I have done and can look back and say it is my best season in sport.”

T100 a brutal competition

Long has been at pains to praise the level of competition and brilliance he comes up against regularly in T100, and he did it again here, revealing: “I want to thank all the competitors for pushing me so hard – where my best is rarely good enough. I want to thank my sponsors for the support and allowing me to chase my dreams. I want to thank the fans for all the love. Most important, I want to thank my family for giving me everything.

“Now I try to find an off switch I’m not sure I have 😂 (for a bit) and then get working!”