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Photos: Athletes push for gold at Dubai's Ironman triathlon
Published on March 12, 2021 at 19.44
More than 790 of them flew in from overseas specifically for the event.
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Dubai’s Jumeirah on Friday bustled with over 1,500 people who swam, biked and ran for this year’s Ironman 70.3 triathlon.
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More than 790 of them flew in from overseas specifically for the event, which was organised under the aegis of the Dubai Sports Council.
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At least 86 nationalities were represented at the starting line-up, with Russia (120), Kazakhstan (111) and the UK (49) fielding the most participants. Thirty-four — 30 men and four women — were Emiratis.
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“The race is great — it’s well organised and a really fast course. The atmosphere of the run, especially, is pretty cool. The people were really pushing me hard. I was impressed how many times I heard my name,” said Daniela Ryf, who won her third Ironman 70.3 Dubai crown on Friday.
Ryf, who bagged the Dubai women’s title in 2016 and 2017, made a triumphant return to the competition, with a blistering run to pip 2020 champion Imogen Simmonds.
Photo: Dubai Media Office
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“I felt really supported. I am really glad to be here and to start again the season with a strong race, that makes me really happy yeah,” she said.
Sweden’s Sara Svensk finished third, while Russia’s Elena Danilova and Cecilia Perez of Mexico brought up the Top 5.
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Out of the hundreds who took part in the race, 76 — 60 men and 16 women — were professionals. And nearly 500 were first-timers.
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Most of the participants were between the age group of 40 and 44, but the oldest was 78-year-old Edwina Brocklesby of Britain.
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In the men’s race, Denmark’s Daniel Bakkegard took the crown, with a time of three hours, 33 minutes and 2 seconds. He broke the previous Ironman 70.3 Dubai record of Jan Frodeno (03:34:48 set in 2016).
Portugal’s Filipe Azevedo finished second, while Sweden’s Rasmus Svenningsson, the 2018 Ironman 25-29 Age Group World Champion, came in third.
Photo: Dubai Media Office
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“It was a nice race where the organisers had everything under control,” said Bakkegard, saluting the organisers for a job well done.
“Certainly, they showed they could put together a good race even though we have this situation with Covid-19 going on. So yeah, I will definitely come back.”
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