Duathlon 2nd place for Al-Bordani at Ayla Championships

This past Friday, the Qatar National Triathlon and Duathlon team was in action at the annual Ayla Championships in beautiful Aqaba, Jordan, on what turned out to be a hot, windy, and technical course for everybody.

The day started with Essa Al-Maadeed competing in the sprint distance triathlon, with a new PR on the 750m swim, followed by the 3rd fastest bike split of the field over 20 KM, and then closed strongly with a 22 minute 5 KM run which propelled him to a 10th place finish in a time of 1 hour and 16 minutes, ahead of many foreign athletes, from all over the world.

Not too long after, Eid Al-Bordani toed the line for the sprint duathlon event, where he followed QTF head coach Mat O’Halloran’s instruction, to patiently run the opening 5 KM run, in a solid 19 minutes, then went on to pass several athletes over the 20 KM bike leg. He started the final 2.5 KM run leg tied for 3rd position and with only 100m left before crossing the line, Eid sprinted strongly to secure 2nd place in a time of 1 hour and 10 minutes, earning Qatar’s 1st ever overall podium in an international duathlon event, as well being rewarded for his deep effort, with a cash prize!

The team would like to thank the Qatar Olympic Committee and the Qatar Triathlon Federation for helping the team reach these special achievements. A special thank you too, to our very hospitable brothers at the Jordanian Triathlon Federation. We look forward to coming back next year, with a bigger team, to this very well organized event.

Up next, the National Triathlon Team will be in action against the world’s best at the World Beach Games Aquathlon, held on October 14th at the Katara Beach and Cultural Village.