Even when surrounded by some of the best in the region, Egyptian athletes stood out at the 2016 ATU Triathlon African Cup and Pan Arab Championships, organised by Alameda Triathlons and the Arab Triathlon Confederation.
Tunisian athlete Mohamed Aziz Ben Ferjani won first place in the elite men’s division of the aquathlon competitions (a continuous, two-stage race of swimming followed by running). Polish Marek Strachota came in second place; while third and fourth places went to Egyptians Tarek Magdy and Eslam Mahmoud, respectively.
In the elite women’s division, another Tunisian, Ibtissam Harrabi, won gold with Egyptian Nada Alaa El-Din taking home silver.
As for the duathlon competitions (in which racers run, then cycle, and finally run again), in the elite men’s division, Bahrainis Moussa Karich and Maali Taur won gold and silver medals, respectively. Bronze went to Tunisian Wajdi Homrani and Jordanian Abdel Aziz Isha Bi came in fourth place.
Egyptians Fatma Hagras and Hadeel Magdy came in first and second place, respectively, in the elite women’s division of the duathlon.
Although it was an Arab and African tournament, European champions were allowed to participate and also showed excellent performance.
The tournament included divisions for disabled athletes of which Egyptians were the highest demographic. Egyptians Sameh El-Geziry and Yehia Mady competed in the para-duathlon competitions. In the para-aquathlon, the Egyptian participants were Mohamed El-Nemr, Waleed El-Hadidy, Mohamed El-Sayed, Mahmoud Taha and Ibrahim Hafez.
