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, made his dream come true after winning the amateurs and military category title in the Ironman 70.3 Middle East Championship held in Bahrain Bay yesterday.
With the victory, Shaikh Nasser earned a berth in the 2018 World Triathlon Championship which will be held in Kona, Hawaii.
He completed the three-competition race in record time of 4.12:53 hours.
In the swimming race, Shaikh Nasser finished in 28 minutes and 56 seconds and completed the cycling race in two hours and 13 minutes. He crossed the finish line after completing the running race in one hour and 27 minutes.
He beat more than 2,000 athletes of amateurs and professionals in his category, and was cheered during the event by his children, Shaikha Sheema, Shaikh Hamad and Shaikh Mohammed who received him upon his arrival at the finish line.
Congratulations
Shaikh Nasser extended his sincere congratulations to His Majesty King Hamad for his continuous support that enabled him to emerge champion of his category. “Ambitions and enormous desire led us to this great victory,” Shaikh Nasser said.
Athletes from around the world took part in the competition marking its third successful year under the patronage of Shaikh Nasser.
Taking part over three legs, the race began with a 1.9km swim lap, followed by 90km of cycling and 21.1km of running.
Starting at 6.20am, it extended all the way to Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir and back.
Norwegian national Kristian Blummenfelt won the male division title, finishing in three hours 40 minutes 24 seconds (3:40:24) to beat runner-up Terenzo Bozzone by 38 seconds.
Meanwhile, British national Holly Lawrence topped the female division after completing the race in four hours, two minutes and 34 seconds (4:02:34). Anne Haug came second.
Organisers had initially voiced concerns over possible bad weather conditions, but expressed joy yesterday over the actual outcomes.
“I’m actually very happy with the event. It was very windy in the morning, but in the end it calmed down during the race, so we had the perfect weather,” Erwin Dokter, Ironman Europe, Middle East and Africa regional race director, told the GDN.
A reason for the success was this year’s decision to have only one transition – the same start and finish location.
“For us, logistically, it was a hundred times easier. We were all in the same place because we did not have two separate venues, which allowed us to help each other throughout. This allowed for the whole event to carry out smoothly, without anything going wrong.”
The race offered 40 qualifying slots for the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in South Africa and 10 from the Military slots for the 2018 Ironman World Championship in Hawaii.