While the international calendar for the Qatar National Team is now clear, the domestic season is just starting. With more races than ever, plus good competition against the best of the expat community, the expectation and opportunity exists for our top triathletes to raise their level and aim to be more competitive – not with just one another, but against the rest of the world!

The opening event of the 2019-20 Qatar Triathlon Series had the team return to the beautiful Katara Cultural Village, hot on the heels of the recent World Beach Games aquathlons. A depleted squad was in attendance, with many either out of the country or undergoing mandatory military training.

Over the fast sprint distance event (750m swim, 19km bike, 5.2km run), former elite national champion, Ebrahim Al Romaihi competed with the top men overall. Getting back to his old form from last year after almost ten months of injuries and illness. A few minutes behind him it was a tight race for 2nd Qatari, with Mubarak Al Ajji and Abdulla Al Kaabi doing the majority of the race shoulder to shoulder. Both, who are more focused on long distance, managed strong performances and made up lots of ground in their overall placing over the bike and run.

Not far behind, Abdulrahman Al Jaber, who had a strong swim and bike combo, struggled to hold form on the run and found himself off the Qatari podium by just less than one minute.

• Ebrahim Al Romaihi 1:05:31 – 3rd Overall
• Abdulla Al Kaabi 1:10:42 – 14th Overall
• Mubarak Al Ajji 1:10:48 – 15th Overall
• Abdulrahman Al Jaber 1:11:44 – 18th Overall

All in all, the team showed strong performances with encouraging signs of improvement. With the cooler weather now here, lots of work still to be done and the Qatar Triathlon Federation providing opportunities for home-grown talent to develop experience locally, we are keeping one eye on the year ahead.

• Results