(Photo Courtesy of International Triathlon Union )
Russian Dmitry Polyanskiy won first place in the elite men’s category at the two-day African and Pan-Arab Sprint Triathlon held in Sharm El-Sheikh by the African Triathlon Union.
Polyanskiy completed the race in 54 minutes and 30 seconds, beating his brother Igor by 3 seconds.
Egyptians Omar Nour, Mohamed Zakaria and Tarek Magdi came in 19th, 23rd and 24th respectively out of 26 competitors in the category. Nour was the only Egyptian competitor to complete the race within 1 hour, with a time of 57 minutes and 25 seconds.
South African Gillian Sanders won first place in the elite women’s category, reaching the finish line in 59 minutes and 12 seconds, while Egyptian Fatma Hagras came in 17th, finishing in one hour and 14 minutes.
The winners in the elite men and women’s categories received monetary prizes of $600 for first place, $500 for second, $400 for third, $300 for fourth and $200 for fifth place.
The triathlon championship was held on 8 March, followed by the duathlon championship on 9 March.
The triathlon course included a 750 metre swimming distance, 20 kilometres of biking and 5 kilometres of running.
The duathlon course consisted of a 2.5 kilometre distance run, 20 kilometres of biking and another 2.5 kilometre run.
The delegations began arriving at Sharm El-Sheikh on 4 March, when several training sessions were held until the day of the competition.
Athletes and delegations departed on 10 March.
The African Triathlon Union is a part of the International Triathlon Union, which was founded in 1989.
