Stiff competition awaits Ironman 70.3

Manama : HH 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, President of Bahrain Olympic Committee underlined that all the stages of today’s Ironman 70.3 World Championships would be tough, stating that they would require high-level of fitness. 

Shaikh Nasser is leading the Bahrain National Triathlon Team, which will be taking place in Chattanooga, US and affirmed that the Kingdom’s team is up to this challenge. 

“Our team worked hard prior and after arriving in Chattanooga so we are ready to compete for top places. We designed detailed preparation plans to hit our peak ahead of the race and have been involved in intensive drills and fully equipped for this new test,” Shaikh Nasser said.

Around 3000 athletes are participating in the men’s category.

Shaikh Nasser has continued his preparations after training with the team members for two periods. The first was swimming for half an hour while and biking for 50km in the second period.

Overall, 4,500 athletes both male and female have been competing, which features swimming over 1.9km, then 90km of biking and a run of 21.1km.

During the preparations, Shaikh Nasser received the UAE National Triathlon team members and both teams discussed the different stages of competition.

Shaikh Nasser also met F1 driver Jenson Button who is participating and wished him success in the race. 

In the women’s race held yesterday, Daniela Ryf and Holly Lawrence of the Bahrain Endurance 13 Team competed, while representing the Bahrain National Triathlon Team in the same event were Maryam Turky and Shaikha Hana bint Ahmed Al Khalifa.