GUIDED and supported by His Majesty the King’s Representative for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee President Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, members of Bahrain Endurance 13 Elite Team won a series of titles in different countries during the past week.
Shaikh Nasser finished 13th and qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship at Zell Am See-Kaprun, Austria for the first time in the history of Bahraini triathlon sports.
In his quest to retain his number 1 world ranking and defend his title at the World Triathlon Series race in Yokohama, Bahrain Endurance 13 Elite Team star Javier Gomez out-sprinted Olympic champion Alistair Brownlee in the final kilometre of the run, in a display of how he would have wanted the London Olympics race to play out and how he visualises the upcoming competition in Rio Deja Nero will be.
Meanwhile, Terenzo Bozzone toughed out a third-place finish in Tennessee at Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga, marking his fourth straight race weekend and podium appearance.
At the same time, Ben Hoffman’s gutsy performance at Ironman Texas had him in the lead on the bike, forcing the race’s eventual winner to work harder to overtake him. Fellow team member David Plese finished in 9th place in the same competition.
Bahrain Endurance 13 Elite Team champ Sebastian Kienle scored a sentimental victory at the TV Forst Triathlon.
Victorious
He said: “Twenty-three years ago I did my first triathlon in Forst. It was not a race, it was a fitness triathlon and you could start whenever you like. I had to skip the swim because the water was very cold and I did not have a wetsuit. Today I won the short distance TV Forst Triathlon.”
On his part, Jan Frodeno’s win at Ironman 70.3 Barcelona came with an amazing run split at 1:13:03 hours on the half-marathon run leg which is, another step towards his quest to win the Ironman World Championship in Kona.
The success of Bahrain Endurance 13 Elite Team members is also the Gulf region’s gain.
Plans are in progress to bring these world-beaters to Bahrain to help with junior development.
This gives Bahraini athletes access to the world’s best to learn from and be inspired by them, setting them on pathways for progress and success in endurance racing.