The opening ceremony of the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship will be held today in Bahrain Bay at 6.30pm.
The event is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee.
Shaikh Nasser expressed his gratitude and appreciation to His Majesty King Hamad for his continuous support and follow-up for triathlon.
Through the diligent work of the Organising Committee and all the staff, all the preparations have been completed for the championship and the competition site has been transformed into a beehive of activity in the last few days.
Tournament director Ahmed Al Haj said the Organising Committee is ready to host the race on Saturday, noting that there are many different programmes accompanying the race, mainly the triathlon race for children tomorrow and the Expo.
Today will be the official registration day to participate in Ironman, which is expected to have a large turnout.
Al Haj also thanked Shaikh Nasser for his great efforts in promoting the sport of triathlon in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Bahrain Events Company member Amal Al Murbati said the company has put its final touches on the site of the championship through the great co-operation of the Organising Committee.
The Ironman Middle East Championship press conference will be held at Four Seasons Hotel at 11 am today. Some members of the Organising Committee and the Technical Committee will speak at the press conference regarding championship’s route and various organisational and technical matters.
The press conference will also reveal the directives of Shaikh Nasser to organise the children’s triathlon race for boys and girls.
The Organising Committee announced the approval of the three-stage route of the championship.
Swimming competitions will be held in Bahrain Bay for a distance of 1.9 km, the cycling competitions for 90 km, ending with a running race of 21.1 km.
The track of the three competitions will pass by the urban, developmental and heritage sites in the Kingdom to introduce participants to Bahrain’s growth, which is one of the objectives of the championships.
The Organising Committee has announced the platinum sponsor of the championship, Al Hassanain Company B.S.C, the leading heavy equipment company in the Kingdom.
Children
Many children have registered to participate in Ironkids and Irongirls to be held tomorrow. The children’s race will be held at 11am in Bahrain Bay.
The triathlon race for girls will be held at 4pm and the triathlon race for boys will take place at 5pm.
The Committee categorised the participants under the age of 14 years, as follows: the age group of 12-14 years will run for 2.5km, the age group 10-12 years for 1.5km, the age group 8-10 years for 1km, the age group 6 8-years for 500m, 4-6 years for 250m, 4 years and younger for 100m.