Nasser bin Hamad: stiff competition in Ironman World Championship

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 the Ironman 70.3 World Championships would be tough, stating that they would require high-level of fitness

HH Shaikh Nasser is leading the Bahrain National Triathlon Team in the contest which will be taking place in Chattanooga, USA on the weekend. And HH Shaikh Nasser 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, We have been involved in intensive drills, and we are fully equipped for this new test," HH Shaikh Nasser explained. Around 3000 athletes are participating in the men's category, and HH Shaikh Nasser anticipated a tightly contested race. 

HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa continued his preparations for the event after training with the Bahrain National Triathlon Team members for two periods. The first was swimming for half an hour while HH trained on the bikes for 50 kilometres in the second period.

It is noteworthy that the tournament will be accommodating around 4500 athletes from both genders with 1500 female athletes are competing in the women's category. The race is set to take place in three stages, starting with swimming over a distance of1.93 km, followed by the 9-km-bike race. The event will end with 21.1-km-running race.

During his preparations for the race, HH Shaikh Nasser received the UAE National Triathlon Team members, where HH discussed with them the race's stages and offered them several tips and bits of advice. On their part, the UAE National Triathlon Team members praised HH Shaikh Nasser's encouraging words and HH's pieces of advice.

Meanwhile, HH Shaikh Nasser met F1 driver Jenson Button who will be participating in the Ironman 70.3 World Championships too. HH exchanged greetings with the international driver, wishing him success in the race. 

It's worth citing that the women's contest held yesterday, where Daniela Ryf and Holly Lawrence of the Bahrain Endurance 13 Team competed. Representing Bahrain National Triathlon Team in the same event were Maryam Turky and Shaikha Hana bint Ahmed Al-Khalifa. 

source:bna