MUSCAT, Dec 5
The national triathlete Mohammed al Masroori clinched the title of the Oman Open Triathlon Championship on Friday at Al Musannah Millennium Resort.
Al Masroori managed to win the title after tough competition among other 50 triathletes from local and expatriate participants. He ended the races of all the three competitions including running, cycling and swimming in a timing of 2 hours, 21 minutes and 9 seconds.
The local triathletes delivered impressive performance in the championship as the podium consisted of two Omanis and the third place went to Essam al Busaidy who finished the race in two hours, 25 minutes and 52 seconds.
The fourth place awarded to Abdullah al Hasani and Suleiman al Alawi managed to end the competition in fifth place. The second place award went to Gari from UK as he completed the race in a timing of two hours, 24 minutes and 40 seconds.
After formation of the Oman Triathlon Committee (OTC) last year, the first domestic event organised on successful note and under full implementation of the preventive measures due to the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The triathlon event consisted of the swimming distance of 1.5 kilometres along with 40 km cycling and 10 km run. The tournament was a golden chance to shape Omani referees as well who officiated in the championship.
More than 15 national referees took a course prior to the event and delivered by Tunisian lecturer Mohammed al Munaif. The graduated Omani umpires will support OTC in the upcoming triathlon competitions.
Ranking System
Mohammed al Obaidani, the chairman of OTC, said after completion of the first edition of Oman Open Triathlon. ‘‘The main target from this domestic event was to declare ranking system for the Sultanate and to record points of the national triathletes. This aim was achieved and the local triathletes points registered under the international ranking system. Another crucial point from the event is that the national triathletes participation was more than the expatriates which reflect the awareness of the “Triathlon” on Omanis,” he added.
Al Obaidani ended his statement on affirming that OTC plans to secure Omanis presence at the 2028 Summer Olympics. “We are working very hard for this future plan and definitely we need support from everyone to accomplish this objective”.
Adil Al Balushi
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