Abu Dhabi: Ryan Christian won the overall title by winning the male sprint solo in his age group (30-39) category with a combined time of 01:01:23 seconds following his swim, bike and run at the annual ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi 2018 on Saturday.
The second place in the overall was bagged by Dylan Smith, who topped his 16-19 age group category with a time of 01:03:25 seconds. The third place was bagged by Ben Parnell, who had finished behind Christian with a timing of 01:04:12 seconds.
“I’m pretty tired, but I managed to recover in the ice bath after the race. I really like seeing new people enter the sport and seeing their progress. There is a real community vibe here in the UAE, it’s great,” said Smith.
The female overall title was claimed by Helen O’Neile, who topped her age group (20-29) with a timing of 1:10:24 seconds. For finishing behind O’Neile, with a time of 01:14:17, Jocelyn Fanoy was rewarded with the second place in the overall. The third place was claimed by Kitsy Smith for her effort in the 30-39 category with a timing of 01:16:13.
Team GB’s Rio 2016 Paralympic gold medallist, Andy Lewis and CNN’s Becky Anderson also joined the 2,000 other participants on Yas Island. Lewis made history as the first para-triathlete to compete in Abu Dhabi alongside able-bodied competitors.
“It was a good experience to be able to talk to Becky through the training and warm up. She told me today that she had never completed a 5km in one go, so to team up with her here and complete a 5km was great — a first for her in triathlon and a first for me here in Abu Dhabi!,” said Lewis while commenting on the performance.
On Friday, in a thrilling sprint finish, 15-year old Kai Boggon — a Team GB hopeful — secured a magnificent win in the 14/15 age group ahead of Ethan Bennett.
“It means a lot. This is one of the biggest races of the year so I’m happy to come out and get the win. I’ve been training really hard, putting in extra work and going that extra mile, so it’s nice to see that it is paying off,” said an elated Boggon.
In the girls 9-11 age group category, 11-year-old Hasting Small won gold. “I really enjoyed the swim on today’s course. A few times I’ve swam here the water has been quite cool, so today was nice. The run was good and it was great to race with my friend Luna,” said a jubilant Hasting.
Other Results: Standard Solo Male: 1. Mohamed Belal, 2. Behzad Nobaripour, 3. Matthew Sudich; Standard Solo Women: 1. Najla Al Jeraiwi, 2. Amber Harding, 3. Mary Kelley; Middle Solo Male: 1. Pedro Gomes, 2. Oscar Balta, 3. Joao Arteche; Middle Solo Female: 1. Shannon Benson, 2. Ana Celia Creus Del Campo, 3. Aimee Wright.
