Abu Dhabi: A record 1,855 athletes from 62 countries will descend on the UAE capital tomorrow for the third annual $250,000 (Dh918,025) Abu Dhabi International Triathlon.
This year's event, organised by Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, posted a 22 per cent field increase from 2011.
The event will have first time representation from countries such as Argentina, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Iceland, India, Japan, Lebanon, Macau, Mauritius, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Seychelles, Trinidad & Tobago and Zimbabwe.
Also competing are 50 professional triathletes who have notched up a combined total of 16 World Championship titles, 47 European titles, 102 national titles and 76 Ironman wins, plus more than 500 podium places.
The 223km race will start at the Corniche.
"To continue seeing strong growth across all platforms for this event is encouraging, both for the future of the sport in the Middle East and for our own efforts in establishing Abu Dhabi as a leading winter training destination," said Faisal Al Shaikh, Events Manager, Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.
"With more than 900 athletes flying into the emirate specifically for the event, it is also a great opportunity to demonstrate Abu Dhabi's burgeoning credentials as a performance athletics hub, which we hope will continue to spur interest in both this event and the destination as a whole."
The formats with the biggest increases in 2012 sign-up are the recently introduced sprint and relay events, which underlines the sport's growing popularity with first-timers looking to break into the sport.
The relay short course — a 1.5km swim, 100km cycle and a 10km run — has grown by 134 per cent from 2011, whilst the numbers taking on the feeder relay sprint distance — 750m swim, 50km bike and 5km run — have also more than doubled.
In addition, GCC numbers have swelled to 979 athletes signed up, an increase of 27 per cent over 2011, with the biggest growth coming from the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.
"The Abu Dhabi International Triathlon has definitely helped spur grass-roots uptake of the sport here in the region and continues to lay strong foundations for its future. This is clearly evidenced by the sport's governing body recently announcing that triathlon and mixed relay would be included in the 2015 Arab Games in Lebanon. This undoubtedly will lead to a whole new generation becoming involved with the sport in the Middle East," Al Shaikh said.
Free event
Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority also called on fans to come out and cheer for the competitors.
A free-to-the-public programme will also be running on the Corniche beach finish line where spectators can watch the action on a giant screen or try their hand at winning great prizes on the ‘beat the elite' bike challenge.