Oliver, Asta triumph at Muscat Festival Triathlon turned ‘Duathlon’

Muscat: High seas and low, read lack of, support had impacted the Muscat Festival Triathlon but a determined Oman Triathlon Team and equally enthusiastic triathlon enthusiasts made the annual event a grand success on a ‘windy and cool’ Friday.
Owing to the high tides, the Oman Triathlon Team, who were already affected by the Festival organisers’ reluctance to support the event, were forced to turn the Triathlon into a ‘Duathlon’ by cancelling the swim section while including an additional sprint session to the programme.
The changed format saw the participants in the Olympic category start with a 10km run and then taking part in the 40km bike before concluding with a 5km run.
In Sprint category, it was 5km run and 22km bike followed by 2.5km run.
In the Olympic category Oliver Boast took the top honours in the men’s section followed by Suleiman Al Alawi and Karl Street in that order.
Asta Parker emerged the women’s winner while Jolanda van Schaijk and Patricia finished second and third respectively.
Gibbs, Hart shine
David Gibbs won the men’s event in the Sprint category while Ahmed Al Falahi and Bert Michels settled for second and third places respectively.
Sally Hart won the women’s title ahead of Ania James.
Oman Triathlon Team thanked all the participants for making the event a great success while making a special mention of contribution made by the individuals as well as the marshals and the timekeepers.
“The event changed from Triathlon to a Duathlon as the sea was not happy! Sorry to those who spent hours in swim training but many events are coming don’t worry!,” said Oman Triathlon Team member Suleiman Al Alawi.
“Also, sorry for no prizes. We were happy to have the Triathlon as part of the Muscat Festival. But we got nothing from the Festival,” he added.
Results:
Olympic category: Men: 1 Oliver Boast, 2 Suleiman Al Alawi, 3. Karl Street. Women: 1 Asta Parker, 2 Jolanda van Schaijk, 3 Patricia.
Sprint category: Men: 1 David Gibbs, 2 Ahmed Al Falahi, 3 Bert Michels. Women: 1 Sally Hart, 2 Ania James.